Eyes so Cruel
by PaisleyRose
Summary: A dragon lives forever but not so little boys.Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys." All little boys and girls grow up, except one boy. However some dragons,and Fae don't like being forgotten and one decides not to be forgotten, ever!
1. Chapter 1

**Eyes so Cruel**

**By **

**PaisleyRose**

**Disclaimer:**

**You know it,**

**I don't own it**

**I don't get paid…**

**I have no life**

**-**

**Prolouge**

**(Words here from A.C. Smith's novel)**

**There once was a beautiful young girl who's stepmother made stay home with the baby.**

_**The white owl was still flapping above her, but in other respects the scene had changed. She was standing on the staircase of her home, and it was dark outside. She raised her eyes to look at the owl. It circled her for a last**__** time, found an open window, and flew out into the night. Then she was **__**running up the stairs **__**two at a time, shouting, "Toby! **__**Toby!" **_

_**He was in his crib, fast asleep. She could not help but pick him up and cuddle him. He opened his eyes dozily, thought about crying, but decided that he was in good enough shape without it, so he smiled instead. Sarah picked up Launcelot from the floor and put the teddy bear in his arms, saying, "Here you are, Toby. He's yours." Then she tucked him into his crib again. He went straight to sleep. She stayed there with him for a long time, watching him breathe peacefully, with Launcelot in his arms. **_

_**Back in her own room, the full moon was shining outside her window. She left the curtains open, to see it. If she went to bed quickly, it would still be shining in when she turned the light out. The alarm clock by her bed showed that the time was after midnight. Her parents would be back from the show any minute now. She sat at her dressing table and picked up a hairbrush, but her attention wandered to the photographs she had around the mirror, her mother and Jeremy, smiling at each other like young lovers, the signed posters, the gossip stories about romantic attachment. Deliberately, she began to remove one picture after another from the mirror. She glanced at each one before putting it away in a drawer. **_

_**On the dressing table one picture remained, of her father and mother**__** and herself, aged ten. Sarah straightened the picture. Then she went **__**to get the music box and put it in the drawer along with the pictures **__**and clippings, shoved far back. She put the book in the drawer with all the rest, and stood with her hand on it there. Sarah whispered. "I am closing a chapter of my life."**_

**Chapter 1.**

**Three years later**

**Same girl, same baby**

"Oh come on Sarah, it's the last weekend before we leave for College!" Ruth bellyached loudly drawing attention from the crowd in the mall. "And it's the concert of the decade… He's only going to be here this one night!"

"I can't," Sarah repeated trying to walk away from the group of girls who had cornered her. "I'm babysitting, and I'm late now," she turned her back to them. "I promised to be home by five and it's going on six. My folks have to leave the house by seven…"

"Sarah, come on!" Leeanne followed her. "It's the last of the concerts in the park, it's free…"

"I don't want to be a fifth wheel, Lee…" she called over her shoulder. "You all have dates, Ruth with Johnny, you with Mike and Ronnie with Chuck… that leaves me…alone…"

Ronnie rushed past her and blocked her path out of the mall. "WE can get you a date, that's not a problem, and you know it."

Green eyes the color of emeralds in the sunset flashed with the fire of a bad memory. "Oh no," she scowled. "Remember the last blind date you three arranged?" Flushed faces told her that they did indeed recall the disaster of the last blind date, Paul Stucky. "You all swore he was a nice guy… and if I'd gotten in his car that night I'd be maimed or dead… stupid drunken lout…"

Leeanne protested, "We didn't know he had a drinking problem… we would never have suggested him if we had."

Sarah paused, looking upset and angry with herself. "I know, I'm not blaming you, not really…look dates and I don't work out…it's like I'm jinxed and I don't want to stick my neck out again… you go, have a fine time and let me know how it works out…."

"But Sarah, we're all going away next week, this is our last chance to go out as a group." Leeanne reasoned.

"Oh let her go run home to babysit," Ruth snapped. "We don't need her to have a good time."

"Shut up," Ronnie growled to Ruth before adding her two cents. "Arnie is going to the concert alone; he can pick you up on his way…."

"I said no!" Sarah was getting flustered. "Look, I gave my word to my folks a month ago."

"Don't they ever let you out?" Ruth snarled. "You're their daughter, not their free slave!" Her normally pleasant voice was becoming shrill.

Sarah was approaching blind fury, and it always seemed to be Ruth Jefferies who pushed her to the edge. Leeanne was trying to put herself between them. "What do you want from me, Ruth? My dad is being made a full partner of the firm… they've had this planned for a month, long before this concert was ever announced, and I promised them." She was ready to feed Ruth her own teeth. "It's not like they have me chained to Toby you know."

"You may as well be chained to that brat," Ruth was still pissed at not getting her way. Being an only child she had no idea of what Sarah's life was like, and didn't care to learn. "You missed prom, you missed the senior trip, the Class picnic and a dozen other events, I'm surprised they let you out to do some shopping and that you're not dressed in rags….Its like you're his personal slave," she complained unreasonably. "_**Everything he wants he gets**_!"

"Oh you're ridiculous!" Sarah turned away.

"Bring Toby," Leeanne suggested quickly, coming up with a plan that she felt seemed logical. "It's a free concert, and there's going to be lots of families…we can sit on the hillside, away from the crush at the stage, do a picnic supper!" She was pushing the excitement trying to rally the troops. "Cold chicken, sandwiches and that sort of thing!"

"Oh yeah right," Ruth scoffed not wanting to be saddled with anyone's little brother, but especially not Toby. "I'm not sitting up on the hill when I have a chance to be near the stage! And I hate picnics, the food always brings ants out."

Ronnie and Lee were ignoring the outburst. "We can have Arnie bring you, and drive you right back home when the concert is done… How often do you get a chance to hear J.G.King and the Fairtones?" Lee pleaded wanting Sarah to do something with them before they went their separate ways.

"Karen will have a fit, what if it rains?" She pointed to the sky that had begun clouding up a short time earlier.

"We'll bring umbrellas," Ronnie promised. "And a poncho for the squirt," Ronnie could see her words were hitting close to scoring. "Come on Sarah… its J.G.King and the Fairtones!"

"If Arnie can pick us up, and take us home….okay…"Sarah sighed praying that Karen would be reasonable about this.

--

Karen was touching up her nails with bashful pink polish in the kitchen when Sarah arrived. "Thought I was going to have to send the Calvary out," she teased gently, treading lightly on the truce that they had forged. "I was getting worried."

"Sale," she showed her stepmother the bags containing new outfits to wear to school. "And I ran into Leeanne and Ronnie and Ruth." Sarah placed the shopping bags down as she began to wonder how to broach the subject of the concert.

Karen heard the edgy tone when the girl said the last name. "Ruth Jeffries has never been your favorite person…in fact I think you hate her more than you hated me." She teased gently.

"Oh much more," Sarah teased back. "There's a concert in the park tonight…and they suggested me bringing Toby and sitting on the hill away from the crush, having a picnic up on the hill while the concerts going on. You know cold chicken and that sort of thing…what do you think?" Sarah didn't want to say anything, but half of her was hoping that Karen would turn the idea down flat. It was the other half that worried her, she'd not really cared about this concert until just now.

"What kind of concert?" She asked finishing her last nail and blowing on her finger tips; her voice was inquisitive and not at all tense.

"Concert;" Robert's voice boomed as he entered the room. "What concert?" He was having problems with his cuff links and frowned seeing his wife's painted nails. "Sarah," he extended his wrists to the girl.

Sarah answered as she fastened his links; "The free concert in the park Daddy, the headliners are J.G. King and the Fairtones."

"Oh them," Robert didn't seem very impressed, but then few of the groups popular with the young crowd impressed him. "I thought you agreed to babysit for us," he frowned.

"I did, it's just that it's the last weekend before everyone leaves for school… and…" Sarah looked away. "The girls are pushing for one last outing with the gang before they leave for school…"

"And you didn't tell them you've opted to stay here and take classes locally?" Karen looked at her with that 'Sarah, you disappoint me,' look.

"How could I," Sarah asked quietly. "They are so excited about going away…I couldn't spoil it for them." She shrugged. "I could never figure out how to say I was rejected by all the schools I applied to, when Stanford accepted Ruth… And with Leeanne going to Colombia, and Ronnie going to Vassar... How was I supposed to tell them?"

Robert looked at Karen, and gave her the 'it's up to you' look. Karen sighed. "Well, put the shrimp into his jammies, promise you'll keep a close eye on him… and yes, you can go." Seeing the joy on Sarah's face was enough for Karen. "How do you intend to get there?"

"Arnie is coming to get us…" Sarah answered caustiously.

"Such a nice boy," Karen blew at her nails again. "I don't understand why you two didn't go to prom together…"

"I'm not his type," Sarah shrugged not wanting to make an issue out of the subject of Arnie Bloomquist.

Karen pursed her lips and sighed, "Oh he prefers blondes I suppose… well, I guess that's natural what with him being Swedish and all."

Karen's innocence sometimes threw Sarah for a loop. "Yeah, he liked em blond…" she began looking around, "Where is the little Toby monster anyway?"

Karen pointed up toward the ceiling, "He's up in the attic room, found some old things up there and he's built a fortress for himself with blankets and some of the old furniture and fixtures …Good luck getting him out of there." She waved her hands, putting one nail to her lips to test its dryness. "By the way Sarah, you should know better than to leave such a mess up in the attic." Karen looked over at her, giving her the 'I need order' look.

"I haven't been in the attic recently," Sarah said defensively. "Why what's wrong up there now?" Over the years things mysteriously seemed to appear or disappear or get messed up in the attic. Karen had the exterminators out fearing rats several times.

"There are a couple of boxes up there of your old things, all strewn about in one corner," Karen said as she wiggled her fingers. "The lid was knocked off lopsided as if you were in a hurry to put the box down…and some of your old plush toys fell out, a few other items too…"

"My old stuff," she questioned. "I stuck my boxes of stuff on one of the shelves… could it have gotten knocked over when the repairmen were here for the electrical work you had done?" Sarah asked trying to remember what was in those boxes, after all it had been three years since she'd put her toys up there. She was sure there was nothing up there of any value.

"I suppose," Karen was now more interested in her nails than the attic. "But Toby glommed on to some of your old toys, and he's hold up with them in his new fort up there. If he weren't so cute, I'd have had a fit when I saw the mess."

Picking up her shopping bags, Sarah promised to check up on Toby after she put her things away. She took the back stairs rather than grand staircase in the living room, moving quickly to get her bundles to her room. It was a different feeling room than it had been three years ago, but Sarah was not sure why it felt different. Perhaps it was the fact that the toys were gone. Perhaps the fact that she was older and wiser or maybe it was just that she'd accepted life as it was. It had been a long time since she had thought about the changes. The colors of her bedspread and her curtains were the same. The furnishings were the same, with the exception that she'd gotten rid of the childish cornice, the shadowbox and the posters were also gone from her wall. Now she had watercolors in white and gold frames, and more bookshelves and a brand new computer on her desk where toys and games had been piled. The room was more mature, and more orderly. Her vanity held only one picture on its mirror, one of her with her parents and Merlin when he was a pup.

Placing the bags on the end of her bed, she slipped out of her shopping shoes. Barefooted she softly padded from the bed to the closet to hang up the items she'd bought. Her closet was different as well; three years ago there had been more costumes than street clothes hanging in here. The door opened and one saw a poster of a rock star back then. Today the back of her closet door held a shoe caddy for her dress shoes, a gift from Karen. Her father had given her a closet organizer for her sweet sixteenth birthday, and now she was trying to remember what it had looked like three years ago only to find her memory foggy. Once she'd finished hanging up the new clothes she changed from her shopping clothes into jeans and a casual pullover and hushpuppies before going up the stairs to the attic room. "Toby, you up here?" she called.

"No," the muffled answer came from under a makeshift tent of old quilts and table linens that needed patching.

Sarah remembered her own forts up here and smiled. Toby's tent was far more imaginative than anything she'd ever come up with. It looked like it had been well thought out and executed with care. "Well I guess that means you don't want to go on a picnic tonight." She turned to leave knowing that before she reached the door he'd be at her heels.

"Picnic?" he shot out from under the tent with something squeezed tightly under his arm. "What picnic?" As she'd expected he was hot on her heels following her out of the attic and down stairs toward his room.

"There's a concert in the park tonight, and we've been invited to go hear it." She opened the door of his room. "Here's the deal, you have to get washed and changed into jammies and a robe; and we'll be taking a picnic supper to the park." She pointed to the bath room. "Scrub your face, hands… and this time get your ears and neck…Mom said you missed them completely last night."

"I'm not dirty," he said in a huff, "I'm just fine…"

"Wash!" Sarah barked and he dropped the bundle under his arm on his bed. Sarah picked up the scruffy looking toy and tried to remember it but it held only a foggy memory for her. "Toby, where'd you get this?"

"Your box in the attic… there's all kinds of good junk in there," his voice was muffled by the wash cloth.

"Good junk," she huffed sitting on his bed and looking at the plush toy, for the life of her she could not place it. It had surly seen better days, and someone had covered a missing eye with a patch. Something about him, for surely it was male, was kind of familiar even in the fog of memory. He gave her a warm and safe feeling. "He's a cute little guy, isn't he?"

"He's not cute," sulked her little brother as he came out of the bath. "HE'S a knight! Knights are not cute." He argued thinking he was right.

"They are to fair maidens," quipped his older sister. "Jammies pal, and make sure you put on a clean pair… oh and slippers too… no bare feet in the park. I'm going down to pack supper… hurry or you'll miss saying good bye to mom and dad." She dropped the toy on the bed and prepared to leave.

"Don't be so rough with Sir Didymus!" roared Toby. "He's very old and needs to be handled with care, you ninny."

Sarah looked at him, "Sir Didymus," she questioned. "That's an odd name. Where did you get it from?"

Toby stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "That's what he said his name was," the boy exclaimed.

"Ah," Sarah smiled thinking back to when she too made up such stories of toys talking to her. "Okay…see you down stairs." Leaving his room she could have sworn she heard two sets of snickers. Hearing the doorbell she pushed the odd thoughts from her mind and raced to the back stairs and the kitchen.

--

When the bell rang Karen opened the door to find Arnie Bloomquist's gangly frame standing there. "Hello Arnie, Sarah will be down in a jiffy, she's just getting Toby ready to go," she stepped aside so the boy could enter. He was not a tall boy, nor was he handsome; in fact Arnie was just plain. He was averaged in height, but his thin long-limbed leggy frame made him appear taller. His hair was dirty dishwater blond that lay flat on his oddly shaped head. His face was long and rather pointed, giving him a rather gnomish look, but he had the most beautiful blue eyes Karen had ever seen and a sweet shy smile.

"Dahk," he said forgetting to speak in English instead of his native Swedish.

"You're welcome," Karen snickered gently use to the fact that this boy was still getting use to his new homeland.

Arnie walked over to Mr. Williams and smiled. "god kväll,"

"English Arnie," Robert reprimanded also gently, with a wink.

He winced, "Good evening." He had a habit of speaking Swedish when he was nervous.

Sarah popped her head into the parlor, "Hey Arnie, thanks for the lift… you like cold chicken don't you?"  
"Ya," he nodded with a wide grin for his friend; "Especially if it's made by your mom here." He smiled at Karen.

Karen looked at her wristwatch, "Robert, we really need to get a move on," she went into the kitchen to have a word with Sarah. "Lock up when you go out, and don't forget to take a blanket for Toby, the little quilt on his bed… oh and don't let him go running around the park in the dark."

"I know…" Sarah said putting chicken into a plastic container to carry to the park. "Anything else?"

Karen hugged her stepdaughter, "Have fun…"

Ya sure," Sarah imitated Arnie's accent.

--

Arnie joined Sarah in the kitchen as she packed the old picnic hamper. She smiled at her friend, "Rye bread or rye crackers?" she asked.

"Both," he replied with a gentle grin. "Don't forget the cheese, Sarah." He took a seat at the table. "How'd they talk you into this?"

"Same way they talked you into it," she surmised. "The last outing gig and the guilt at not having done the prom or the trip or the senior breakfast….you name it."

"Ya, I thought so," his accent was soft but present. "You think they'd figure it out…"

Sarah shrugged. "You're not obvious with your likes and dislikes Arnie." She giggled. "Karen was just trying to hook us up…"

"No," he said rolling his eyes. "What did you tell her?"

"I said I wasn't your type, and she thought I meant blonds…." Sarah explained as she packed the hamper.

"I do like blonds," Arnie admitted. "Just ones with outdoor plumbing."

Slapping his shoulder, Sarah giggled. "Just keep that under wraps for now… and don't say anything too obvious in front of Toby, okay?"

Arnie pointed to the stairs and the little boy who was trying to sneak down. "Speak of the devil…" He watched as the little boy came into the room. "Hello Toby, what you got there?"

"My friend, he wants to come too." In the boys robed arms was the scruffy toy from the attic. "Can he?"

"May he," Sarah corrected absently. "Yes, I suppose its fine."

Arnie looked at the toy, "My he's a fine looking friend."

Toby nodded, "He was Sarah's friend first, now he's mine…"

Sarah looked at the basket, "Okay, meat, bread, crackers, condiments, and cheese… what should I pack for desert? Apples," she suggested knowing Karen kept fresh fruit in the pantry. She stopped dead in her tracks when both Toby and Arnie answered…

"Peaches."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2. Dragons don't forget**

**Meanwhile back at the Park**

The backstage area was filling with the usual hanger's on; girls who were ready willing and able, and a little too eager to please. They were crowding wherever they were allowed to stand. Besides the girls on the stage, some had started to gather at the edge of the stage of the parks band-shell. Some where there to see the concert, some were there to be seen, and some were there hoping to get lucky.

There were also Roadies who were working to set up in spite of the crush of fan-girls everywhere and techs who wanted to clear the area for sound checks. Stagehands setting up lights and the pyro show for the finale were trying to move the equipment into place only to be blocked by Fan-girls. Off to one side were the money boys, the business men who were making deals and breaking hearts. In the midst, and yet still apart from it were the boys in the band, watching with blatant amusement as the chaos swallowed all the others on the stage. They sat around, the drummer, the bass, the synthesizer, and the lead guitarist all awaiting the arrival of their lead singer J.G. King.

Odell Summers, The drummer walked to the edge of the stage and looked at where people were starting to enter the park. Like all the members of the band he was tall, lean and aloof. His face looked chiseled, unreal. "She's not here," he said sullenly. "He's going to be disappointed and freak." The young man on the bass guitar behaved as if he had not heard the other, he kept tuning the instrument in his hands. Storming over to the other, Odell stuck one of his drumsticks between Perrin's frets. "Did you hear me? He's going to freak!"

Perrin Daze looked at him with disimpassioned grey eyes in a face that seemed a bit gaunt. "So what else is new?" He asked in a voice that was neither bothered nor excited.

Odell pulled his drumstick free. "Bloody hell," he groused. "I don't want to be stuck here!" His gray eyes held more blue and were now showing rage. "I want to go home."

Merck Forester looked up from the synthesizer, "Odell you're not going anywhere, none of us are." His voice was calm, too self-possessed and all too composed. His long delicate fingers moved over the keyboard continuing the sound test.

Sulking like an impudent child Odell collapsed onto the seat behind his drums. "Don't remind me." Sniffling he crossed his arms. "Bloody hell," he grumbled again.

Rafe Thornecrest, the lead guitarist, whispered under his breath a warning. "Here he comes now."

Back behind them a figure was moving forward to the stage. Tall and lean but not skinny, like the rest of the young men in the group he was toned and athletically bodied. Each of the members of the band and this lead singer were dressed in garments that marked them as foreigners, Brits. Their garments were well cut, and very expensive, his alone must have cost a small fortune. He moved comfortably, a man who was at home in his own skin and who knew what looked good on his frame. His hair was pale blond with shades of almost spun gold highlighting his long stylish cut. It swept across his face, sometimes obscuring his eyes with soft whisps. He was all man, all raw energy and he was a force to be reckoned with. He didn't bother looking at the fans, nor the stage personnel, instead he moved to where the band were and addressed them directly. "Are we ready?" he addressed Perrin.

Gray eyes met the mismatched storms at sea pair gazing at him with coolness and serenity instead of the turbulence that Perrin and the others expected. "Sound checks out," Perrin announced, adding in a whisper. "No sign of _**her**_."

"She's not coming," Odell declared sullenly, his face twisted with a desperation he could not speak. "She'd be here if she were coming, wouldn't she?"

The singer looked from Perrin to Odell; "She'll be here," he promised before he tacked on. "She's not a groupie you know," He looked at the girls already gathering at the edge of the stage. "She's not the kind that shows up looking attention, she's above that kind of behavior… she's no ordinary girl." He turned his back once more on the girls clamoring for his attention, his thought were only of the girl who had bested him and rejected him. The girl who he'd been ordered to forget, but never could as they had unfinished business between them. "She'll be here." He repeated with a haughty smirk.

Odell was on the verge of asking how he could be sure when Perrin stopped him. He had extended one hand, and the drummer silenced. Perrin cocked his head to one side; his grey eyes studied the royal with interest. "You found a way around the restrictions of no scrying." Perrin was never sure if he was in awe of the other or in fear of him.

"Perhaps," the singer said without committing himself.

"Impossible," Odell protested, unable to keep his opinion to himself. "Once High Oberon makes an edict, it stands."

Merck rolled his dark eyes, knowing that Odell didn't know Jareth as well as he thought he did. "Odell, would you care to wager on that?" He gently pulled on the neatly trimmed beard that covered his chin. Cocking his head to one side the lighting on the stage flashed against his earring.

Rafe scoffed, "Don't do it, Odell, that's what got you into this mess in the first place." He slung his unplugged guitar to his back and lit a cigarette up casually.

Jareth looked at the members of his backup band. "Time to dress, gentlemen… our fans await us." He motioned toward the dressing rooms set up for the headliners.

Odell shook his head, grumbling as they moved off stage; "Bloody hell." He'd had his fill of mortal teenaged girls, and then some. He longed to wander the shores of Avalon once more, or to walk an enchanted forest, anything but trying to move through the crush of teenaged girls.

Jareth took a moment and smiled; if all went as planed he'd be one very satisfied Fae. If not, someone was going to have hell to pay. He chuckled softly, there was going to be hell to pay one way or another. For a moment, he was not entirely sure which way he wanted this gambit to go. He looked at the hillside, before turning to face the opposite direction where just beyond the line of trees where there was a meadow with a stone bridge over a pond where swans swam, and obelisks stood tall. He let his lips curl in a slow almost wickedly haughty smile, and murmured. "I wonder if she's received my little gift yet." He followed the rest of the band off stage to the dressing rooms.

--

Crowds were forming, and Ruth was not going to wait on Leeanne, or Ronnie, but most assuredly not on Sarah Williams. Ruth had never really considered the girl a close friend in the first place. The idea of sitting on that drab hillside with an unwelcomed kid galled her. Why sit on the hill when one could be up front and noticed. With that in mind she dressed with extra care, wanting to not only be noticed but to be singled out. Johnny, her currant steady was watching her with worried eyes. He knew that given half a chance the girl would dump him in the batting of an eyelash for the chance to "upgrade" to a rocker. Especially if it happened to be J.G. King!

"We don't have to sit this far up," Johnny argued as she dragged him forward to the staging's edge and the crush of girls already gathering.

"I want to see…" Ruth complained bitterly as he held back. "Look, you can stand with me, or you can go your own way…it's up to you. But I'm going to be standing near the stage!"

Johnny shrugged, knowing she was not going to be reasonable. Ruth got what Ruth wanted, and she kept things and boyfriends as long as they interested her. He had seen her go through a dozen guys, and really didn't want to be cast aside. "Fine, we'll stand with the rest of the wantabes." He looked back with some longing to the hillside where the rest of their friends were going to be sitting. "You think they'll remember to leave some food for us?"

"Who cares about food?" Ruth found open seat in the front row, and dropped their coats onto them. "This is the last concert before we all go our merry ways… And Sarah's dragging that little brother of hers here. Who wants to have a picnic with a greasy fingered brat?"

"He's not that bad," Johnny said taking a seat on one of the saved chairs. "He's just a kid Ruth."

"He's a fifth wheel, and I don't want him here!" Ruth pouted. "For that matter I don't really want Sarah here either…she's so out of place…She's weird Johnny, she's just weird." She sat beside him now, pouting and fussing.

"What's weird about her?" He asked trying to understand his girl's dislike of their classmate.

"Everything," Ruth complained. "She doesn't date; she never goes out with us… she has her nose stuck in a book most of the time…but has no idea of what she wants to do with her life," Ruth began to spill out everything about Sarah that upset her. "She's almost too good to be true….. Always offering a helping hand… never an unkind word… she's a creepy little Mary-Sunshine."

"You're nuts," Johnny replied quietly. "She went through a really rough time there awhile back… no one wanted to talk to her… little wonder she turned into a book worm."

Ruth shook her head, "It goes back further than just before sophomore year Johnny…it goes back to when she was little… I've known her since kindergarten, and I never considered her my friend….and I still don't. She was a spoiled little princess….and I'm betting she still is deep down. What is it they say? Leopards don't change their spots… Well Sarah Williams is still…Sarah Williams…" The pout had turned into a scowl. "She used to talk to inanimate objects, did you know that? I caught her once having an argument with a sculpture in the park here."

"Right," Johnny scoffed laughingly. "Who won?"

"I'm not kidding… she used to come here with that huge ugly hound of hers," Ruth went on bitterly. "Dressing up in costumes I wouldn't have even worn for Halloween…and playing out the parts of plays or stories from books… Now don't you think that's weird?" When he shrugged she shivered. "Then she just stopped… changed over night…too weird…" She looked away and muttered. "I'll bet she still thinks there's a prince charming somewhere waiting to swoop in and sweep her off her feet…"

--

Odell stood behind Perrin as they both used gel to spike their hair. His fingers worked the gel into his scruffy cut platinum hair, leaving a trail of glitter as they worked. "I hate this shit," he muttered. "I canna wait until I have seen the last of glitter gel."

Perrin's hair was darker, more like honey colored, and the glitter didn't seem to be as noticeable. "I hear ya, brother." His hair held a bit more wave than Odell's, but not nearly as much as Merck's dark riot. Rafe's shoulder length red hair was tied back with a leather thong and only the long tendrils that were braided at the sides of his face showed any sign of glitter.

"Stop complaining," Jareth sat at the makeup table underscoring his eyes with a Khôl pencil in a deep shade of lapis, and then softly smudging it so it gave his eyes a faintly romantic appearance. He then applied a thin line into the lashes of his eyelids, and smudged this softly as well. For three years now he had been masquerading as an English rocker. He had the stage makeup down to a science, not wishing to have a makeup artist; he had to do it himself. He could not chance a mortal touching him, and refrained from allowing even a Fae such intimacy.

Angel, one female Fae in their company was moving from one member to the next to assure that the costumes for the stage were setting properly, and that all the accessories were displayed correctly. Her long red gold hair was braided and hanging down her back. She finished with Merck, before coming toward Jareth with his long Edwardian coat in her hands. "Are you ready, Sire?" Her voice was soft, respectful and pleasant to ones ears.

"Yes, Angel…" He stood up, held out his arms and slipped the coat on. "Thank you."

"My pleasure sire," she said politely before backing away, her long skirt moving gracefully against her long legs.

Odell pulled the long linen cut-out-lace cuffs free of his jacket sleeves. "How much longer?" he asked Rafe.

"Not long now," the man answered as he peeked out of the dressing room door. "The security boys are keeping the groupies in line, and the stage manager is preparing to introduce the opening act…" He looked back at Odell and then at Jareth; "Won't be long now."

Odell moved sullenly over to the Goblin King who was fussing with his costume. "Are you sure she's coming?"

"See for yourself," Jareth sighed and with the flick of his wrist caused a single perfect crystal orb to form over his fingertips.

"You can't do that," gasped Odell somewhere between horrified and mesmerized. "Oberon took that power away from you."

"No, he only said I could not use scrying materials… my orbs are not scrying orbs." Jareth stated with overconfident arrogance. "Not even Oberon can remove my orb powers…I need them when a summons comes."

Perrin chuckled as he and the others approached the Goblin King. "I had suspected it was something like that." He looked with a raised brow at the orb on the fingers of his King.

The orb dancing on the fingertips began to fill with swirling color and a misty fog. An image began to form, that of a girl with long dark hair, and eyes the color of emeralds in the sunset. Her lips were full, tender and ripe, and had yet to be properly kissed. Jareth looked over at the other Fae men. "I told you she'd be here," he preened.

Odell swallowed hard, "She's lovely," he admitted without wanting to.

"I can well see why you want her," Merck announced fingering his chin in consideration of the maid in the orb. His expression had taken on a come hither constancy.

"You only see the physical attributes," Jareth warned. "Sarah Williams is more than just a pretty mortal wench… she's far more." He lifted the orb up, eye level and breathed deeply. "She's the only person to ever reach the center of the Labyrinth…and the only female who ever rejected my offers."

"Oberon said you were to leave her alone," warned Odell.

"His exact words were, 'She's a child, leave her alone.'" Corrected the cunning King; "Does she look like a child to you?"

Odell refused to speak, Merck answered for all of them. "That is no child."

Perrin interjected a bit of reasonability. "She's an innocent, young to be sure, but ripening…." He looked at Jareth with a warning. "But she's still an innocent."

"And I have left her so….for now." Jareth calmly caused the crystal to vanish. "But soon that will change."

Odell was uneasy with the plan, and had always been uneasy with it. "Oberon erased her memory of you, of the Labyrinth…."

"No, he only buried the memory," Jareth corrected shortly. "He could not remove her memory without damaging the changes the Labyrinth wrought. Even our good High King could not and would not do that." The young King's tone was a bit cocky. "And I've seen to it that there are triggers to reawaken those memories."

Perrin could see Odell was about to challenge the King and that would not do. "Jareth," he said derailing the conversation. "Have you taken into consideration what Oberon is likely to do once it is brought to his attention that you blatantly ignored his order?"

"Yes," the man with stormy eyes announced but didn't elaborate. He turned back toward the makeup table to check his appearance one last time. "They'll be calling us soon…. Finish dressing."

Odell sought Perrin's eyes, he was worried. He owed a debt to Jareth, but was not sure paying his debt was worth coming up against an angry Oberon. Perrin motioned for Odell and the others as well to be silent. He too kept his protests and questions to himself. What ever Jareth had planned, he was not in a sharing mood.

Jareth looked at his image in the mirror, the fancy jacket he wore was less impressive than his Goblin King's armor…but it would do. 'I won't be just pushed aside, like the memory of a toy once played with. I will not be forgotten,' he promised himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3. The Ruse**

Hearing her brother and Arnie both clamor for peaches sent shivers down her spine. For reasons she was not sure of Sarah had taken a sudden and definite dislike to that fruit about three years previously. She had once loved peaches, could not wait until they were being harvested at the local orchards. At one time she'd beg her father to take her to the orchards so she could pick the fruit right off the trees… Now she detested them, and cringed every time Karen brought them into the house and why she could never figure out. Toby on the other hand loved them and what ever Toby loved, Karen bought…. "Wouldn't you prefer a nice crisp apple?" she pleaded, not willing to put the requested fruit into her basket. As if it's very presence would contaminate the rest of the food.

Toby made a face at her, "Mom just got peaches at the store, really big ones!" He pointed toward the pantry where Karen kept things. "And they taste better than an old apple does, everybody knows that!"

"Yeah, everybody knows that, come on Sarah," Arnie cajoled easily. "It's just a peach…"

'Don't pout,' she warned herself, 'it's just a peach…keep telling your-self that.' Sarah opened the door to the little pantry. For reasons she was not sure of, Sarah had developed an aversion to dark places, and to rooms that were cut off from the rest of the house. The pantry gave her the willies, with its dark shadows and hidden recesses. She had been avoiding it for a long time now, always finding reasons not to go in there. She squared her shoulders and whispered, "Fine, peaches it is…but don't complain to me if they have worms," she groused as she reached out her hand for the door knob but hesitated when she thought she'd heard snickering. Telling herself it was only Arnie and Toby joshing her, she forced herself to grip the knob and turn it to open the door.

The pantry was long and narrow, and seemed to go on forever to her at that moment. Something in the crowded space seemed 'off', and Sarah could not put her finger on what it was. She reached for the light switch and hesitated, something warning her not to bother. The peaches were at the end of the long row of boxes and cans, hanging in a ripening basket. With all her soul Sarah didn't want to go into the pantry. She looked over her shoulder; Toby and Arnie were playing 'Cat's Cradle'. She whispered to herself. "They're right there, _**piece of cake**_, go get em." At that moment the fruit in the basket seemed to take on an unearthly glow and Sarah pulled back a step.

"Hey Sarah," Arnie called to her, "How about something to wash the food down with."

Sarah frowned, the peaches were waiting, hanging, and calling and she didn't want to answer. "Arnie, how about you get the peaches and some apples as well while I go out to the mudroom and get the cold soda and juice boxes for Toby?" She moved out of the door way to allow her friend free passage knowing whatever was in the pantry was not waiting for him and he'd be much safer than she would. She nearly ran to the mudroom, and panted when she reached the old refrigerator that Karen kept stocked with cool drinks. She found Toby and Arnie wrapping the fruit in paper napkins to cushion them.

"Toby, go up to your room and get the quilt off your bed," Sarah ordered as she finished packing the basket. She looked up at Arnie, "Thanks."

"Is something wrong?" the Swede asked softly. "You seem… nervous."

"Excited about the concert," Sarah said without hesitation, hoping it sounded feasible.

Arnie looked at her, and asked. "Did you tell them yet?" his face was full of concern and encouragement.

"No," She answered back softly. "I couldn't… the only reason you know is you saw me in the line at the college bookstore. I haven't told anyone."

"Sarah," he sounded disappointed. "It's not your fault…"

"Arnie, not tonight, please." She begged.

He shrugged. "They'll find out soon enough I guess… okay… I'll take the basket and blankets out to the car. You bring the squirt and his blankie."

Sarah moved to the back stairs, "Toby what's taking so long?"

"I had to change," he called back down. "I had an accident…"

Sighing she called back up. "Do you need help?"

"No, I'm almost ready." He shouted back in frustration. "I'll be down in a jiffy." True to his words he came down hauling his quilt with him and Sir Didymus under one arm. "I'm here," he announced proudly.

Sarah looked at him and her smile faded to a blank stare. He had changed from his Muppet babies jammies to a pair that she had not realized he even owned. They were red and white strips and it was an all in one with snaps on the shoulders. He was also in a red robe and red slippers, more of Karen's color coordination fixation. "Where did you get those?" Sarah asked a bit too quickly, not sure why she was upset.

"My jammie drawer," he said handing her his quilt. "Can Sir Didymus come to? He's never been to a concert…"

"Sure," Sarah answered absentmindedly. She took a deep breath and folded the quilt over her arm. "Let's get a move on."

--

Ronnie and Chuck were the first to arrive, and staked out a great spot on the hillside under a chestnut tree. Ronnie gazed at her beau with ocean blue eyes filled with love and excitement. "Can we tell them tonight?" she asked as they spread one blanket out.

"No," Chuck cautioned lightly. "Not with everyone going off to school… let's keep it quiet for a little while longer."

"But Chuck," she protested holding out her hand. "Don't you think they'll notice?"

Chuck's dark eyes danced with glee. "Not with J.G. King singing down there in the band shell, no, I don't think they'll notice… Besides, the ring is small, all I could afford for now."

Holding the hand with the ring to her heart, Ronnie whispered with every depth of emotion she knew, "It's the Hope diamond to me, honey."

As he leaned toward her to capture a kiss they were interrupted by the approach of another couple. "Hey Romeo, save that mushy stuff for later," Mike teased as he tossed their blanket to the couple on their knees to unfold. "What did you bring to eat Ronnie, some of that fired chicken you're so famous for?"

Leeanne growled at her boyfriend, "I told you she was bringing it…"

Ronnie nodded as she spread the second blanket. "And some of my mom's red potato salad too." Chuck stood up and clasped hands with Mike, and the girls looked on. Ronnie smiled up at Leeanne, "Ruth and Johnny are already in the mosh pit," she thumbed toward the bandstand and the crush of bodies already gathering. "She thinks she's going to catch J.G.'s eye!"

"Did you sign a little tag? Tom says they are collecting the names of girls to put into a fish bowl, and King himself is going to pick out a name and bring the girl up to sing to her…." Leeanne sunk to her knees with a guilty gleam in her eyes. "I sighed up Sarah, you know she won't."

Ocean blue eyes filled with a happy thought. "Wouldn't it be great if Sarah got picked, and old Ruthie had to stand there and watch King singing to our Sarah?"

"From your lips to God's ear!" Leeanne mimicked her Jewish grandmother, hand up in the air and all. Both girls began to giggle uncontrollably.

--

Arnie parked the car, surprised that he found a space so quickly. "I guess they don't know that's a spot," he commented as they unloaded the basket and blankets. Toby clutched his shabby little plush friend closely.

Sarah looked up at the cloudy sky, "I really hope it does not rain." She said as the wind picked up and blew her long soft hair about. "Toby, you stay right with us, we have things to carry, so you stay right with us." Her voice sounded a bit sterner than she'd wanted it to.

Toby's face was turned into the wind, "That feels good." He commented with a dreamy tone.

"Toby," Sarah's sharpness opened his eyes. "Stay with me," she motioned him to walk at her side. "I'm responsible for you, and I want you to stay close." Clutching the shabby toy to his chest he muttered something about liking wind in his hair and on his face, but he followed her much closer.

--

Mike and Chuck were still talking when Sarah, Arnie and Toby approached the staked out piece of hillside. Chuck said something under his breath that Mike objected to and moved away to greet Arnie. "Glad you made it," he said warmly greeting his friend.

Chuck moved forward reluctantly, as Arnie gave him a disquieting feeling. "Arnie, thanks for picking up Sarah and her brother." He said guardedly.

"Anytime," Arnie said knowing his effect on Chuck, before turning to smile softly at Sarah. "I'll help you with the blanket."

Leeanne move to be in command of Toby while Sarah spread the blanket and set up the basket in the center with the rest of the baskets. "Hey squirt, what cha got there?"

"My new friend," Toby held out the scruffy little plush for Leeanne to see. "His name is Sir Didymus… and he's never been to a concert or a night time picnic…."

Cuddling the little boy, his sister's friend gave a soft smile to the little toy being held out. "Welcome, Sir Didymus!" She called Ronnie over to see Toby's new friend. "Ronnie, look at what Toby's got!"

Ronnie's blue eyes widened with surprise and pleasure. "Well isn't he handsome?" Toby preened like a little cat at hearing the remarks about his "friend".

Sarah was glad they were distracting him; she had not taken time to give him a snack, and was now worrying about him fussing. She spread the blanket to sit on, placed the basket in the center and opened it before turning to look at Arnie. "You forgot the cooler."

"I'll go back and get it, we've got time," he answered softly. "They haven't even started the warm up show… don't worry…"

"I can't help it," she whispered hoarsely. "I feel like you and I are under a microscope."

"I hear ya," he cocked his head to one side and looked at Mike and Chuck. "Those two think you're reforming me…"

"Oh please," she groaned.

Arnie stood up, "I'll be right back," he announced; "Left the cooler in the trunk."

--

He took his time, needing to get a bit of air before going back and putting up with Chuck. Chuck's long winded, biased and flat out brainless obtuse remarks were sure to be in rare form tonight. Arnie was grateful the other young man was leaving for college. He allowed himself to enjoy the beauty of the park as he wandered back down to the car.

On the return trip, he noticed some of the promoters of the concert with little slips of paper. "What's up?" He asked one.

"We're collecting names of girls eighteen and up…" the young man said smiling widely. "King likes to bring some unsuspecting girl up at the end of the concert and sing the closing song to her."

"Really?" Setting the cooler down, Arnie got an idea. "Look, I'm here with a friend who would never think to put her own name forward for anything like this… can I sign her up?"

"Is she eighteen?" the other asked before handing the young man a slip.

"Oh yes, she just turned eighteen a few weeks ago…." He wrote down her name and handed the slip back to the promoter. "She would just flip if they called her name." He gaffed before picking up the cooler and heading toward the path that would take him to their spot on the hillside.

--

Johnny excused himself, giving the excuse that he needed to take a leak. Once he was sure he was out of Ruth's eyesight, he looked for the guys taking names. "Hey buddy, I've got a name for ya," Johnny said as he approached the man.

"We don't take guys names pal," he scoffed sarcasticly.

"Not me, you moron!" Johnny took a slip and put Sarah's name down. "It's a girl sitting on the hillside."

"I thought you and your girl were up front," the other questioned.

"It's not my girl, it's a… nicer… girl… one who never puts herself first." Johnny handed him the slip.

"Sarah Williams?" He read the name. "Okay, I'll see it goes in…" He looked at Johnny with a questioning glance. "Why are you doing this?"

"I don't know, random act of kindness…." Johnny turned and muttered, "Or the best damn revenge in the world if there's a God."

--

Leeanne had settled Toby, and Ronnie was fixing a plate for Chuck when Arnie arrived back with the cooler. He smiled like the Cheshire cat, and it was making Sarah nervous. She sluffed it off, knowing there were matters more important to keep track of. She was setting up a plate for Toby as the first act of the evening's concert was announced and they took the stage. She turned to look at the stage, and saw the tumble basket being filled with paper, and turned to Ronnie. "What's that about?"

"Oh they put the names of girls over eighteen in there and at the end of the evening J.G. King is going to reach in his hand and pick out one lucky girl to sing the closing number to." Ronnie said with a giggle. "Cool, eh?"

Shivers ran down Sarah's back. "For some I guess…" she looked at Toby, making sure he was eating and being good.

Ronnie winked at Leeanne, who winked back.

Arnie leaned back on his elbows, enjoying his quiet act of valor.

Somewhere in the front row, Johnny sat smugly thinking what a great cosmic joke it would be if Sarah were picked over Ruth!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4. Waiting in the wings. **

His feral eyes searched the hillside, the orb had shown her to be on the hillside and so it was there he turned his eyes. He could see her, Fae having sight the mortals could only dream of. She had changed but only a little in the years they'd been parted, a fact that pleased him immensely. She was still looking as fresh as a new born rose; the blush of innocence still clung to her. Her youthful beauty could still take his breath away, and he had to fight the urge to transform to owl and swoop down upon her to stake his claim. Even now, at this distance he could hear her heartbeat, the rhythm of her breathing, and he could smell the sweet scent that was uniquely Sarah. Placing a hand over his heart he stilled the ache that thinking of her always brought about.

Perrin moved beside him, his eyes scanned the area his King was glancing in. "Is she here?" He asked already knowing the answer, but needing confirmation.

"Yes," hissed the King. "She brought the boy with her." There was amusement in his tone. "Perhaps the boy is ready to be of service to me."

Perrin placed gentle, but warning fingers at the King's elbow. "Don't…" he warned.

"I will not allow harm to befall him," promised Jareth turning serious. "I would cut off my arm before I'd allow harm to befall him… however… he is part of my plans for Sarah." His face turned, looking into Perrin's searching gaze. He would not be swayed, not by Perrin, not even by Sarah, not now when he was so close.

Eyes of gray studied the stormy eyes that met his, and Perrin's voice became terse. "You've been rather unforthcoming with that information, old friend. _**WE**_ have no idea what your plan is…"

Haughtily Jareth regarded the other, "Did I have reason to share all my plans?"

"No," admitted the other fair Fae. "You didn't." He looked toward the gathering members of the band. "We are here because we owe you a debt, no other reason."

"No other reason, Perrin?" Questioned the haughty King, his voice registered doubt. He had known that Perrin had come not just because of the debt, but because he feared trouble and felt an overwhelming need to protect his oldest friend.

"Jareth," Perrin reasoned keeping his voice at a level that only his old friend could hear. "I pledged my oath to you long ago… long before you became the Goblin King…long before the gates of Avalon closed to me and mine…"

Pursing his lips into a thin line, the King sighed. "I know that Perrin…" He turned to look once more to the hillside. "I have no doubts of where _**your**_ loyalty lies."

--

Robert hustled Karen into the Country Club, heading for the main dinning room. "There's Corbin," he said in his wife's ear.

"I told you we'd be here in plenty of time," his wife said as they moved toward the man at the bar. "Stopping at the park didn't take that long…"

Corbin, one of the younger senior partners of the firm looked over and smiled, but caught only part of the conversation. "Hello Robert," he shook the man's hand enthusiastically before pressing a quick kiss to Karen's cheek. "Did you just say something about stopping in the park?"

"Yes," Karen said breathily. "We stopped on the way in…"

"Why?" Corbin ushered them to the table that was now filling with members of the Law firm both he and Robert practiced with. Corbin held out a chair for Karen.

"The kids are attending that concert that's been advertised like mad on the radio." Karen said as she descended gracefully into the seat.

"Some kind of drawing," Robert said taking his seat. "Karen said she wanted to be sure Sarah's name was in the drawing."

Placing her order for her cocktail, Karen smiled over at Corbin and his wife. "Sarah's too modest these days and I was afraid she wouldn't even think to put her name in the drawing."

"Unlike some other girls," Robert said in agreement. "Sarah of late is keeping a very low profile."

Reaching for his martini as it was delivered, Corbin shrugged. "One would have thought with Sarah's mother being…. Well… you know, an actress… she'd have gone the other way."

Corbin's wife was in agreement. "I remember when just a few years back, Sarah was heart set upon a life on stage… all that play acting in the park…."

Robert looked at his drink, and really didn't want it any longer. "I guess she grew out of it…" For reasons he could not fathom, he found that very sad and it left him feeling a bit empty.

--

Sarah made sure that Toby was tucked neatly in between Arnie and her self. Both Leeanne and Ronnie were good with the little boy and they didn't worry Sarah. And Mike was also good with the boy; it was Chuck she didn't trust. Chuck had always been a loose canon as far as Sarah was concerned. He was boastful, and loud and a bit rough, and he didn't seem to care about other peoples feelings. He also had very limited patience with children, a fact that worried Sarah as she knew that Ronnie was always talking about wanting a large family. Knowing Chuck's carelessness, Sarah was sure she didn't want Toby to spend too much time in his company. Arnie didn't care for Chuck much either, and that told Sarah a great deal.

Chuck was lounging in the center of the blanket he and Ronnie were sharing, acting like a pasha waiting to be waited upon and lavished with attention. Leeanne rolled her eyes and ignored him. Mike on the other hand was busy offering tidbits from their basket to the others and making sure everyone was having a good time. He and Arnie were carrying on a conversation on a subject that didn't interest Chuck.

Leeanne reached forward and ruffled Toby's hair. "So sport, you enjoying your outing with the big kids?"

Toby adored both Leeanne and Ronnie, and he smiled back at his sister's friend. "This is fun…I think Sir Didymus is enjoying it!" He hugged his scruffy plush toy.

Sarah looked up at the heavens and the threatening clouds. "I hope the rains hold off until the concert is over."

"Me too," Arnie agreed with a mouthful of roasted chicken.

Sarcastically Chuck scoffed, "Hey Arnie, don't you know you're supposed to eat fried chicken at a picnic, not roasted…" he muttered the words; "Dumb Swede," under his breath.

Mike held Leeanne back, knowing she hated that Chuck liked to make ethic slurs against Arnie.

"Sarah's mother makes the best roast chicken in town," Arnie retaliated. "And I don't care for fried foods." He looked at Sarah with a crooked smile, "Roast chicken is my weakness…"

Sarah laughed and nibbled on the food on her own plate. Once she was sure Toby was eating, she relaxed and began to enjoy the band playing down on the stage. "What time do the Fairtones come on?" she asked.

"Soon," Leeanne replied.

--

Odell was preparing for the performance, doing lunges and leg stretching exercises. Twisting and turning his torso, he focused his thoughts on the moment they would take the stage. His muscles twitched, as he schooled his face into a haughty mask of overconfident arrogance. Merck on the other hand was meditating and the picture of peace and tranquility. Rafe moved back and forth, pacing in a tight circle, chanting his own personal mantra. Perrin went over the last minute details.

Jareth now standing out in the night air behind the stage rested on the rail of the ramp up to the backstage area. He looked up into the night sky, longing for a quick soar but knew that was not to be. He let the air bathe his face with its sweetness, and bid the gathering storm clouds not to come any closer. Closing his eyes, he breathed in, and found that one scent he desired to sense. "Sarah," he hissed softly, even in the hiss it sounded more like a caress. "Sarah."

--

Upon the hillside, fans were singing along with the last number of the opening band. The tune was a popular one, but one girl had stopped singing. She looked about, the clouds now obscured what was left of the sun and it was growing dark. Sarah felt her heart beginning to pound, and she had the strangest feeling of…. Déjà Vu. Strange words were invading her thoughts, and for some reason she felt the need to run away. To just pick up Toby and run.

--

The crowd in the park hushed, the stage was cleared and the stage manager came to the center microphone. "Is everyone ready?" he asked whipping up the excitement of the crowds. A thunderous cheer rose and some of the girls in the front screeched. "I said is everyone ready?" he shouted with more gusto. This time there was clapping as well as cheering. "Ladies and Gents, I give you…" his arm swept through the air in a motion as the boys in the band moved swiftly onto the stage. "The Fairtones!" He shouted and backed away.

The boys took there places, Odell at the drums, which he began to beat violently. Merck's fingers ran the scale on the synthesizer, and the sound filled the night air with vibrations. Both Perrin and Rafe began to strum their guitars in the opening cords of their opening number. Lights flashed red and then orange and then golden behind the band. Spotlights above were timed to swing and flash as part of the entrance. Then all the focus was on the area behind them where the lead singer would make his entrance. The band reached fever pitch with the opening cords and introduction. The lights focused, the band was whipped into frenzy as one lone figure came forward out of darkness into the light. The crowds of girls at the edge of the stage went wild and J.G. King lapped it up like a cat would lap cream.

"Without you," he crooned; "I'm not free…" His eyes focused on the girl sitting on the hillside.

--

Sarah watched the crowds, the wildness filled her with apprehension, as if a nightmare were about to unfold before her and she was helpless to stop it. She looked down at Toby, but the boy didn't seem to be affected by the crowds or the strange panic that was clutching at Sarah. She told herself she was being silly, and looked to the stage. The entrance of the band was quite the show, even Sarah had to acknowledge that fact. She'd seen grand openings; her mother's work on the New York stage had shown her what a big entrance was all about. This, this was even better than anything she'd seen or experienced before. Even the trepidation and anxiety could not diminish the thrill as lights flashed and colors exploded with a speed that was designed to give the audience a rush. It was heart pounding, and senses overloading and exciting.

Even Sarah was swept up into the rapture, as the music reached the fever pitch. Then, from out of nowhere, he appeared; just a vague shadowy figure in the back of the stage. He moved forward with poise and sophistication. His movement held refinement; clearly he was well practiced at this entrance. He was also almost too comfortable with the wild frenzy the fans were exhibiting. It was, to Sarah's mind, as if he were oblivious of his affect on the girls crushing to be closer to their idol.

He grabbed the microphone stand, and his mouth opened, at the same time his eyes moved into the crowd. He focused on the girl on the hillside and she felt his eyes. She told herself there was no way he could be looking at her, and yet she knew he was. She heard his croon, and again wanted nothing more than to grab her little brother and run as if the devil were on her trail.

--

The first number finished and the fans in the front begged for more. King wore a self satisfied smirk as he regarded the throng of eager and willing young women before him. He lifted his left hand and motioned the band to begin the second song, something much slower and more emotional than the opening number. He closed his eyes, drew his voice from his depths as he sang the gut wrenching tune. He could feel the pulse of the crowd, knew they were his for the bidding. All but one, she was still resisting, and that not only intrigued him but it fascinated him. In the hours he'd held her captive in his Labyrinth she had only once nearly surrendered to his … charm. Once more the girl was resisting, and he found himself like a moth drawn to that inner strength and power.

He had taunted her from the start. The moment he'd entered the Williams home, he had given her a haughty and arrogant smirk. He had underestimated her from the start, had thought her merely a girl…an ordinary mortal girl. He had paid dearly for his high and mighty self-important puffed-up arrogance. He had lost not only the baby he'd been summoned to take, but he had lost her as well. It had left a bitter taste in his mouth, and was made worse by the fact that she had allowed creatures from his kingdom to come and celebrate her victory over him. He had been excluded, left out and left to watch in his owl manifestation in the night.

Had that been the end of it, he could have perhaps endured it. After all he did have the upper hand; he was aware of something he'd kept secret from the prying eyes of the Seelie Courts. He had fed the baby, both solids and fluids, during its stay with him. Something he had been expressly commanded not to do. No child during the running of the Labyrinth was to be given neither food nor drink. Yet he had been so taken with the liveliness of the child Toby, he had blatantly ignored the command. His excuse to himself, to justify his disregard of the decree was that he was King and in his own Kingdom should be able to make such choices on his own. Jareth knew the Goblins would never dream of giving his secrets up, as they were loyal to him. Coveting the child, and wanting a changeling, he fed Toby. Not satisfied to take one child, he had also tricked the girl into eating Fae food.

Threatening Hoggle had been easy, knowing the sniveling coward thought more of his own skin than anyone else's had been his trump card. He had not expected the resistance that he'd met in the dwarf. In all the years that Hoggle had toiled for the King, he had never once shown any back bone. From the moment that girl had bribed him with that silly plastic bracelet Hoggle had begun to change. The transformation of the dwarf had been a long and slow process, with many a back falling faltering. Jareth still seethed thinking of how the little twit had denied him…..

_**"Wait," Jareth told him. Hoggle froze. His eyes closed. "I have a better plan, Hoggle. Give her this." **_

_**With a wave of his left hand, Jareth produced a bubble from the air. In his hand it became a crystal ball. He waited for Hoggle to turn around and tossed it to him. Hoggle caught it. It had become a peach. Hoggle looked at it, dumbfounded. "Wha -- what is it?" **_

_**"A present." **_

_**Hoggle's eyebrows beetled. "It ... it ain't going to harm the little missy, is it?" he asked slowly. **_

_**"Oh." Jareth placed a hand over his heart. "Now, why the concern?" **_

_**Hoggle pursed his lips. "Just ... curious." **_

_**"Give it to her, Hoggle. That's all you have to do. And all you have to know." **_

_**Hoggle was torn between fearful obedience, which was familiar to him, and affection, to which he could not have put a name. "I ..." He stood more erect. "I won't do nothing to harm her." He reckoned that such a moment of defiance might have earned him a pint of earwigs down his breeches, at least. **_

_**Instead, Jareth replied with that pleasant smile that by now was like broken glass on Hoggle's nerves. "Come, come, come, Hogbrain," the Goblin King laughed teasingly, "I'm surprised at you. Losing your ugly head over a girl." **_

_**"I ain't lost my head," Hoggle scowled. **_

_**"You don't imagine that a young girl could ever like a repulsive little scab like you, do you?" **_

_**Hoggle was stung. "She said we was ..." He stopped himself in mid-blurt, but it was too late. **_

_**Jareth gave him a coy, sideways grin. "What? Bosom companions?" he taunted as his voice went down several octaves and took on a loathsome dangerous vibe. "Friends?" **_

Jareth opened his eyes and looked at the girl on the hillside; he was still seething that she would prefer the friendship of that little coward to himself. He was more than angry though, he was mystified. She had not only forgiven the little scab, but had bestowed upon him affection! Even after the betrayal she'd been kind to the dwarf, forgiving him and allowing him to finish the quest with her more loyal companions.

Only once did she falter in her quest, only once did she show any sign of wanting something for herself. He had meant to make her fail; he had meant to keep her distracted while that last hour passed. It had been a game, well played, and most enjoyable. She was the best opponent he'd ever come up against. But it was not all fun and games, and he had done more to keep her safe even from his own ambitions during her trek. He had watched over her far longer than he'd ever watched any other runner. She was good, too good, he told himself time and again. While he boasted to his horde of Goblins, he didn't completely believe his own boastings that she would give up.

He had seen in her face several times during the course of her journey something that intrigued him. First on the wind swept hillside, while he gave her the command_**… **_

_**"It doesn't look that far," she said, and heard in her voice the effort she was making to sound brave. **_

_**Jareth was at her elbow now. He looked at her, with a smile that was icy. "It's farther than you think." Pointing at a tree, he added, "And the time is shorter." **_

He had seen something in her eyes, was it a plea, no it was sorrow for having thoughtlessly spoken the words. She had looked at him with those green eyes… those lovely emerald green eyes, and begged him to understand that she could not give up her brother, not even for her dreams….

_** "You have thirteen hours to unriddle the Labyrinth," Jareth told her, "before your baby brother becomes one of us, forever." **_

He'd seen something more in the tunnel, he had called the dwarf by one of the disparaging names he'd often called him, and she had tried to correct him. There was no fear in her, unlike her companion. There was the gaze of one who thought herself an equal. It was impertinent and insolent and most disrespectful, and a complete turn on…. He had found himself flirting with the cheeky girl brazenly instead of being insulted by her manner. He had backed her up to a wall and wanted nothing more than to devour her with his eyes, he sighed as he sang the song of unrequited love, gazing at the creature he found himself drawn to. He would have loved to have bantered with her, but she overplayed her hand by calling his Labyrinth _**a piece of cake.**_

Jareth heard the introduction of the third number and tried to clear his mind of the memories. He began the lively third tune and could not get the image of Sarah running through the Labyrinth out of his mind. She had been so determined, surprisingly so. So defiant so resilient, and resourceful; right down to turning loyal subjects into quivering mounds of devotees. Not that he blamed them. He too was moved by her. Moved enough to covet her and see to it that she was tricked into taking a bite of the peach.

He had never planed on allowing her to see him until the hours had passed and she and the child were his. He was accustomed to the game, and understood how it was played. It was Sarah who changed the rules. She had drawn him in just as he had planed to draw her into the web that had no escape. She had looked magical in the moonlight gown, like a princess born, not an actress. Once more he saw what it was that had dawn him to her in the first place. She was as lonely as he, and as full of denial. Still walking through the pressing crowds of Fae, resisting their taunts and temptations, she fascinated and captivated him. He had only meant to give her fleeting glimpses of himself. He had only meant to bait her. He was stunned by how lovely she appeared as he had lowered his mask, revealing his presence to begin the chase, the game of cat and mouse. Her eyes, those deep emerald pools held something he'd not seen in his many years. They held the first signs of desire, and longing. Sexuality was awaking in her, and he was witnessing it.

The gown the magic had created for her had been reminiscent of that of a music-box dancer. Her hair had been caught up with leaves and flowers and vines of a slivery substance. Youthful, but aristocratic she walked with dignity and graciousness. She held herself like a princess, even in the face of the corruptive influences of the court. He had watched her pass by men and women behaving suggestively, and she never once paused to stare. She was looking for something, for someone, for her hearts desire….

He had not meant to allow her to find him; he had planned on playing the game out until she was hopelessly lost. Yet each time she caught a glimpse of him it was he who seemed to be affected. Her eyes, searching, longing… her lips parted and her face so…so…soulful. He had freed himself of the embrace of two courtiers, courtesans to be more exact. He approached her, captivated completely by the openness in her lovely eyes, and her open desires. He had never seen innocence so delicious, so pure, and so unreservedly offered. Her eyes saw only him at that moment, and in that moment it was he who was lost.

He finished the song, and looked at the crowd, wishing he could make them all disappear. Perrin brought him his guitar and he growled into the microphone, "Let's shake this up a bit, shall we?"

--

Heart pounding, head hurting, Sarah wondered why it was this stranger on the stage was affecting her so. She looked down at Toby with troubled eyes, but he was not affected at all. He was enjoying the show, hugging his toy to his chest and speaking to it as if it were a living creature. Things seemed foggy for a moment and Sarah could have sworn the toy turned its head and gazed straight at her. In the next instant the fog cleared and Sarah blinked. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves, and she fought the urge to ask Arnie to take her and Toby home. Even Chuck seemed more pleasant during the concert, as he draped his arms over Ronnie in a manner that was a bit more possessive than he'd used before. Mike and Leeanne also appeared to be taking pleasure in the madcap performance on stage. Arnie was singing along, as he knew all the words of the songs of this group. Toby was rocking back and forth to the rhythms, and everyone except for Sarah was enthralled. She told herself it would be over soon, and they could go home. She reached into the basket for an apple, and was not really paying attention to the fruit in her hand. Half way up to her mouth she froze as the stage manager was once more at the microphone, he was saying something about a drawing and the crowds of girls in front of the stage were screaming.

--

The tumble drum was rolled forward, and spun round and around. The manager held up his hands for everyone to be quiet, as J.G. King reached into the caged drum. He took out the slip of paper, and looked at it. Fate was with on his side he told himself in a haughty disdainful private thought. He had not even had to change the name on the slip of paper, for it read…SARAH WILLIAMS. He moved to the Microphone and growled, "Sarah Williams."

--

Sarah sat frozen, the fruit in her hand, and her breath stopped as her heart pounded.

Leeanne giggled, Ronnie preened, Johnny watched Ruth's hope shatter, and he felt vindicated.

--

J.G. King repeated the name this time with a soulful invitation attached to it. "Sarah Williams, whereever you are… come join me."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5. The coming storm**

"Sarah," Leeanne urged her to move. "They called your name…"

"Sarah," Ronnie prodded her as well. "Go on, they're waiting for you."

The girl with green eyes gasped as the force of her breathless state struck her. Panic filled her eyes. "How could they?" she whispered fearfully. "I never put my name in!"

"I did," Leeann, Ronnie and Arnie all volunteered at once, and then looking at each other laughed good naturedly.

"You what?" Sarah gasped, feeling betrayed instead of sheltered in the fortress of their friendship.

Leeanne and Ronnie were hauling her to her feet. "Here she is!" they called out. "Here she is."

"No," she balked. "I don't want…" but an usher was already gripping her arm and pulling her toward the stage. People in the audience were cheering her on, and she only wanted to run the other way. "Arnie," she called over her shoulder. "Watch Toby!" Sarah dragged her feet as the usher moved her through the aisle toward the stage.

--

He watched her being pulled to the stage, unwilling and reluctant to participate in this travesty. "Now, now," he growled suggestively into the microphone. "I won't bite… hard…" The crowd in the audience was eating his suggestiveness up and they were howling for Sarah to hurry to the stage. Sarah was escorted onto the stage, in her hand the forgotten fruit she'd not even taken a bite of. She had the 'deer in the headlights' look, and Jareth wondered if she realized what it was she was holding. He was struck by how similar the garments she was wearing tonight were to the ones she'd been wearing in the Labyrinth. In face, he would not have been surprised to find that these were in fact the same jeans. The blouse was a different color, and slightly different style, it was not the raw linen poet shirt. It was a peasant styled pull over in a charming shade of turquoise that really brought out the green of her eyes. Like the poet shirt of long ago, it was loose on Sarah, however this shirt didn't hide her curves. He smiled disarmingly, "Well, there you are." He greeted her with breathy charm. "Hello."

"Hello," she whispered, looking down, trying to hide her eyes.

He reached forward, gently placing his hand beneath her trembling jaw. "Sarah is it?" his voice coaxed her to look up into his eyes. "Hello… precious." The timber of his tone changed, and his voice reverberated.

"Hello," She repeated demurely, eyes opening in wonder as they met the smoky and stormy eyes of the singer.

Ignoring the crowd observing them and shouting some rather suggestive ideas, Jareth behaved as he thought a mortal man would at this moment. "My, my," he teased. "Aren't you just the most precious little thing…" the crowd laughed nervously; "You are eighteen, aren't you?" She nodded and he cozied closer. "Good," he growled in a sinister way deep in the back of his throat. "Wouldn't want to be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor…" Again the crowd roared, and he looked at the hand holding the fruit. "Ah, did you bring me a gift?" Releasing her chin, it took little effort to relieve her of the fruit. "A peach," he growled. "Lovely," he simpered sinking his teeth into the fruit and offering her the next bite. He got as far as rubbing the peach juices to her lips before she reacted with a startled quake.

"Do…I know…you?" she asked breathily, staring at him, forgetting they were in the center of the stage. She seemed oblivious to the crowds observing them.

Jareth also seemed to have forgotten the crowds as well. "Perhaps…" he leaned closer. Only the soft notes played by Merck on the synthesizer seem to reach in to them. Jareth gazed lovingly into Sarah's eyes and began to sing. "_**There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes…"**_ All the while he was trying to tempt her with the peach he'd stolen from her fingers.

Sarah felt dizzy, but was unable to move. She could not even look away from the man singing the painfully beautiful song. His voice and the gaze in his eyes were all too familiar, and for a moment she wanted to lose herself into the magic of his song. Something in his eyes kept her from doing just that. Deep in the smoky depths was something few others would even notice, something she was acutely aware of. The song finished with him repeating the words 'Falling in love,' over and over in a painful lamentation. He stepped closer, intent upon kissing her, when she stopped him. "Your eyes are so cruel," she proclaimed forlornly.

Jareth observed her, and pulled back his hand from under her chin. "Just as you can be so cruel," he whispered back accusingly.

Neither of them seemed to be aware of the roaring crowd of fans, they were enthralled and rapt in each other's gaze. His lashes swept over his eyes, as his lids lowered until there was only a thin slit for him to look out of. She shivered under the harshness that no one else was close enough to encounter. The enchantment of the moment was broken as the audience cried out for an encore. Sarah turned her face sideways, and remembered where she was. Taking a step away, she planned on leaving the stage as quickly as her feet could take her. He blocked her retreat; having tossed the peach and now was gripping her wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?" He demanded to know.

"I have to get back to my brother…." She pointed toward the hillside.

"We're not done," He pulled her into his arms as the band struck up another tune. He moved so he was standing behind her and singing into his microphone that he braced on her shoulder. He knew her comfort level was nil, and didn't really care. His right hand held the microphone while his left arm had snaked past her waist and held her tightly without any sign of effort on his part.

Sarah looked over her shoulder at his lips moving and tried not to listen to the sound invading her ear. But no matter what she did the droning buzzing was there, and she found herself panting breathlessly.

The fingers on his left hand flexed, he held her possessively. He'd come this far, he was not about to release her, not now. He nuzzled her neck as he sang what was supposed to be the song that would close the show. He breathed in her scent, delighting in her closeness and her discomfort.

Sarah squirmed. "Let me go," she hissed quietly.

"Not on your life," he said once he'd moved the microphone, letting the audience think he was whispering sweet nothings in her ear during the instrumental interlude.

"I don't know who you think you are," she argued hotly. "But I am out of here."

"Not so fast, precious." He warned her, tightening his grip. "Think of how it will look…." Sarah looked away from him, blushing. "Be nice," he crooned.

Not enjoying this attention, feeling trapped and embarrassingly awkward, the young woman glowered at him. "Let me go."

"Give me no reason to hurt you precious." He warned impersonally, a frosty tone in his voice. "The song is almost over, and you can run back to wherever it is you hide."

Sarah turned to look at the hillside; she could barely make out the shapes of her friends and her little brother. "Toby," she whispered.

Jareth's attention shifted from the girl, to the child. Having Fae sight, he could see that the boy was fine. He raised the microphone and finished the song. A triumphant smile filled his face when he ended the tune. The audience applauded wildly as he buried his face into the crook of her neck and shoulder. "Stay still," he warned allowing the audience to enjoy the moment. He raised his head, his hand still binding her to him; he kissed her cheek and allowed her to have her freedom.

Gathering her dignity, Sarah moved slowly away from the man when what she really wanted to do was run like hell. She stepped down from the stage, and made her way back up the aisle to the hillside and her friends. Toby looked up at her with a pleased smile. She turned to Arnie. "I want to go home, now…." Her voice was steady, but firm.

Arnie looked down toward the stage, nodded and began to pack.

--

Perrin began to play the cords of the music they used to close the show out. J.G. King took his curtain bow and exited the stage. Finishing the set of cords and letting the fireworks go off, the band then took exited the stage. Perrin moved toward Jareth quicker than the rest and cornered the Fae King. "What the hell was all that out there? I thought you said she didn't remember."

Jaw set, and eyes ablaze, Jareth answered. "She doesn't! That was instinct."

"Bloody hell," Odell swore. "I thought she was going to rip out your lungs and hand them back to you for a moment."

"She thought about it," admitted the King. "I believe she would have had I not threatened her…."

Rafe pressed forward. "You did what? Are you out of your mind?"

"It was threatening her, or risking her leaving…." Jareth explained as he removed the colorful costume coat. "Angel, I need my street clothes…"

"Where do you think you're going?" Perrin demanded.

Jareth smiled coyly. "I'm going to pay a little call on her."

"Out of the blue?" Odell gasped. "She has no idea of who you are….."

Thunder rumbled above, and Jareth smiled. "Perhaps it's time to remind her." He smiled a sharp toothed grin.

--

Arine was unpacking the car as the first drops began to fall. He could hear the dogs in the neighborhood start howling. Behind his car three more cars pulled in to the curb in front of the old Victorian. The occupants of all three filed out and headed toward Sarah's front porch. "Great," he grumbled as he finished pulling the contents of Sarah's belongs from the boot of his car. "Company," he moaned. "Have to be on my best behavior."

Sarah stood at the front door as the three other couples gathered at her door. But it was Ruth who pressed forward, "How did you do it, Sarah?" she pushed the other girl back into the wide foryer. "How did you manage to rig it so your name was chosen."

"Rig it?" Sarah glared at the other girl. "What makes you think that I would want to do such a thing, let alone do it?" Defiantly she raised her chin. "I didn't even want to go to this stupid concert! That was your idea, remember Ruth?"

Coming into the house behind Ruth, Leeanne raised her voice to be heard. "Sarah didn't even put her name in the drawing! I did…"

"Me too," Ronnie said not masking her anger at Ruth. "I put her name in the drawing too…."

"So did I," Arnie chimed in dropping the contents of his arms and closing the door on the gathering storm.

"Oh that's right," gripped the girl. "Everybody stick up for Saint Sarah."

"I'm not a saint!" Sarah complained bitterly. "I don't know where you got the idea I was…."

"Babysitting at the drop of a hat," Ruth had talked over Sarah's defense. "Helping little old ladies… doing laundry… you make me sick Sarah Williams…." Just then thunder roared over their heads and the wind turned violent.

The lights flickered, the windows rattled, and Sarah had an uneasy feeling that things were about to get a lot worse.

"I wish…." Ruth began to vent again, unable to stop herself. "I wish…"

Sarah rushed forward, impulsively placing her hand over the other girl's mouth. "Don't say another word!"

The lights flickered, and went out, pitching the house into darkness. Only the flashes of lightening illuminated the rooms and causing shadows in the corners to dance wickedly. The wind blew violently against the house and it gave off eerie sounds. There were strange snickering and sounds none of the young people recognized. None of them except a girl who could not place the sounds in her memory or explain why they were dangerous, and a little boy who was humming a strange tune while hugging his shabby little plush toy. Sarah looked about the foyer, panic rising and feeling trapped for some reason she could not, and most likely, would not have explained. She kept her hand held fast to the lips about to speak words… 'the right words,' she feared.

The other teens saw the shadows moving, heard the sounds and the two other girls, startled grabbed onto their dates. Arnie was still standing just inside the doorway. He said something in Swedish that the others didn't understand. "_**Skratta**_," he uttered pointing toward the stairs that suddenly seemed to go in every direction in the dark and strobing flashes of light. The young Scandinavian began to speak so excitedly in his own language that the rest of the teen stared at him. "Himmel!! _**Skratta**_," he repeated pointing again up the stairs.

Ruth pulled Sarah's hand roughly from her lips. "Get your hands off me!" she barked.

"Ruth," Sarah pulled back. "What ever you do, don't say anything!" She looked desperately around, "Don't anyone say anything!"

Toby began to giggle, and Sarah turned desperate to locate him. "Toby?" She looked up and thought she spotted him moving up the stairs. IN the next instant she thought she saw him dash through the living room, and then he was spotted running toward the kitchen. All the while she could hear him humming and giggling. "Toby," she called out sharper. When she looked up she could have sworn she saw him dashing up the stairs chasing what looked like his shabby plush toy…"Toby!" Sarah planned on turning away from the group to chase down her brother before something more happened.

She never got the chance, for just as she turned Ruth blurted out; "I wish you weren't so perfect Sarah Williams… I wish you were flawed and confused like the rest of us… I wish someone had the power to teach you what it's like to fail!!"

Lightning flashed wildly and thunder hammered the air violently shaking everything in the house. Toby gave out with a high-pitched screech, the likes of which Sarah had not heard in three years. Merlin barked as if all the burglars in the world or something far more dangerous were closing in and descending on the house. The storm raged on over Sarah's house, clouds boiled and Rain lashed leaves on the trees as the wind cause the branches to lash out at the house itself. Thunder was followed by lightning, which was followed by a scream.

The front door began to vibrate and then to rattle ferociously as if powerful hands were fighting with it. Sarah felt her heart thumping, pounding as if it was going to launch out of her chest, she put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. A soft and rapid thumping began to sound at the door, like wings beating against it. Sarah's face had drained of all color. Lightning crackled and flashed again, while the clock on the landing began to chime. Sarah fought to remember why this was so frightening to her. But the memory stayed one step a head of her. She wheeled around, mouth open, hands clenched, looking for Toby.

_**The storm wind rose to a pitch. Lightning made daylight in the room, and scared faces suddenly began to vanish into cupboards, drawers, or down the cracks between floorboards. As the thunder boomed and the wind shook the curtains, a blast of air blew the door open. Between the fluttering curtains he entered. **_

_**Sarah wrapped her arms around her face, and screamed, and screamed again. She felt the wind blowing her hair around. Between her fingers she peeked out. A prolonged crackling of lightning was throwing a giant shadow on the wall facing the door. It was the shadow of a human figure. **_

_**Sarah spun around. Silhouetted against the stormy sky was a man. He wore a coat which swirled in the wind. She could see that his hair was blond. Something glinted about his neck, more than that she could not see in the dim light. **_

_**She cleared her throat. "Who are you?" **_

_**"Don't you know?" The man's voice was calm, almost kindly. **_

The man stepped out of the shadows, lightening flashed showing clearly his face, J.G. King.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6. British invasion**

Stunned back into silence, Sarah could only stare at the attractive and mysterious man who had come through the open door as a fugitive of the storm. Amused by her befuddled state, J.G. smiled at her. "Hello," he purred moving further into the foyer. His long dark rain slicker covered his clothes effectively, and he had pushed back the hood that had kept his hair dry. He didn't look at the rest of the occupants of the darkened foyer, only at the girl with the green eyes.

Ruth broke free of the gripping hold that Johnny had on her arm. "You want to explain this one away Sarah?" She charged at the bewildered teen staring at the handsome singer. "What kind of crap is this? You set up a secret rendezvous?" She struggled to stay free from the hands trying to pull her back. "If we weren't here it would be very cozy for you wouldn't it?" her voice was beyond shrill now, it was frenzied. "Well we are here, and I'll be damned if you're going to be alone with J.G. King!!"

Haughtily and disdainfully Jareth turned his eyes on the charging girl. "I have no idea of what you're prattling about… I came in here because our car was attacked by one of your trees…" He pointed to the street where the van he'd been riding in was now dead in the road, smashed by a downed oak tree. "Until a moment ago, this looked like the liveliest house of the few here on this…block, all your lights ablaze….then it all went dark." He had turned back to Sarah. "I was hoping we could use your phone to call for help." For good measure he added the lie, "I had no idea this was your house…Sarah, isn't it?"

Sarah moved past him, looked out the door and saw the other members of the band trying to free the van of the tree. "Oh, not the oak," she groaned miserably. "Not daddy's oak…." The large old gnarled tree had landed squarely over the hood, and steam was pouring out from the collapsed radiator. Branches blocked the street and nearly covered the van up. Sarah looked at the few other houses on her street. Being at the far end of town meant that there were fewer neighbors, and right now it looked like no one was home in any of the houses. She jumped back when another bolt of lightening struck and shook everything. "You'd best tell your band to come inside…" she said to J.G.; "At least you'll all be warm and dry and safe from this storm." King nodded, and going out to the porch motioned the rest to leave the van and come to the house. Sarah moved to the phone, ignoring the glaring Ruth. "Damn," she whispered and looked at the British singer. "Power is not the only thing out; the lines must be down due to the storm." She had a sudden thought of what Karen would do if she found puddles in her foyer. "I'll get some towels for your friends… please don't drip too much on the floors if you can help it… My stepmother is a real neat freak, and it would kill her if there were water stains everywhere."

Having come back into the house, J.G. looked at his nearly soaked outer coat. "Is there somewhere we can put these so we don't make a mess of your hard wood floors?" His voice sounded reasonable as he removed the soaked garment.

Sarah had run from the foyer to the kitchen and the mudroom where Karen kept the extra towels. She nodded at him as he inspected the soaked coat in his hands. "We've a mudroom; I can set up a couple of drying racks once everyone is inside." She stated handing him a towel which he used to stop the coat from dripping on the wooden floor. She was holding on to more towels for the men who were not rushing to get onto the porch and out of the storm.

"Bloody hell!" Odell cursed loudly. "I thought for a moment that we were going to die…"

"Dramatic, isn't he?" Perrin teased as he shook off rain and accepted a towel from Sarah, drying off the case in his hand first. "Hey, you're the girl who was on stage with us tonight…."

"Right," Sarah handed towels to the two others also racing up the steps to the safety of the porch. After having given the towels out, she motioned them to come into the house. She looked at Ruth who was still seething, and moved toward her. "You really think I could have planed something like this?" Pointing to the fallen tree and the van dead in the middle of the street, Sarah growled; "Why in the world would I? My father loved that stupid old tree; he's going to be devastated that it's gone." Another bolt of lightening struck, and Sarah jumped. "Well, looks like no one is going anywhere now." She closed the door after the last of the Fairtones had entered the house. "We'll all just have to sit this storm out together here." Lightening flashed and thunder rolled as if to emphasizes her statement.

Ruth scoffed, "I don't want to stay here…." She began to move toward the door that was blocked by the soaked members of the rock band.

"I'm not driving in this, are you nuts?" Johnny attacked her. "Sarah's right, we'd be much smarter to just sit it out. At least here we're dry and safe."

Sarah found the flashlight her father kept in the drawer of the table in the entry hall. "I'll show you where you can hang those coats to dry," she addressed the band. "And I'll get some candles lit too…. Arnie, I'll need your help." She looked about. "Toby, where are you?"

"Up here," his little voice giggled. "I'm sitting on the landing." Beside him, perched as if he too were seated was the scruffy toy he'd been hugging all evening.

"Stay put until we have some candles lit." She ordered, before turning and leading the five members of the band to the mudroom where she quickly set up three sets of drying racks for their soaked outer garments with Arnie's help. She was not sure why he'd followed, but knew she was glad he had. "Just leave the towels on the washing machine; I'll take care of them later." She said before she moved to one of the cabinets. "Arnie, here's a couple of candles and the lighter, and the transistor radio, see if you can get the news channel and find out what's going on…." The boy took them from the girl, but didn't seem very talkative. What he seemed was disturbed, bordering on traumatized. His body language told her he was distressed about the presence of these strangers, and something he'd said in the foyer echoed in her mind…Sarah was going to make sure she found out what he had been trying to warn her of. He didn't appear ready to talk, however he took the candles, lighter and the radio and moved back toward the foyer. From the growing glow, she knew he was lighting the candles as she'd requested.

"Thank you," J.G. said handing her a towel. "It's very kind of you to take us in out of the storm."

Feeling hemmed in Sarah wanted to back away, to put as much space as she could between her and this man. Nevertheless the mudroom was only so big and with the drying racks taking up much of the floor space she was stuck. "It's fine," she said in what she hoped sounded like a tranquil and unruffled tone. "I'm sure the storm will quickly pass and the phones will be back and we can call for help to get you back on your way." She once more had the deer in the headlights look on her face, and it was obvious she was looking for a means to escape the close quarters that they were finding themselves in at the moment.

Jareth ignored his band mates, and the sounds of the teens still in the foyer, pressing closer he whispered in a mysterious voice; "I'm in no rush…" He placed a hand to Sarah's elbow. "Why, I wonder, should you be in such a rush to see the last of me?" His touch was like electricity, and she felt the energy course through her. She looked up at him, his face only shown dimly in the light of the electric torch. "One would think you fear me…"

"I don't fear you," she replied in a much harsher tone than she'd wanted to use. "It's just this storm," she backtracked.

He didn't remove his hand, but instead began to gradually tighten his grip with his fingers, and allowed his thumb to move over her arm joint in a circular motion. "Of course," he said boldly. "I suppose we should join your other guest, before one of them beings to think I've taken advantage of you. That girl seemed damned upset that I was here, with you…" He watched Sarah's eyes, looking for any sign of recognition, but it was missing. He released her arm and gave her a gentle smile.

Turning away from him, Sarah led the way back to the foyer; Toby was now standing with Arnie and the others. He looked up at the band members gathering in the space and smiled. Arnie stood holding one of the candles and looked to Sarah for instructions. "Well, I suppose we should all go into the parlor," she suggested gently. "It's the most accommodating space on this floor for so many people…." Turning to Arnie she said gently. "Karen keeps candles all over, light some please. I'll replace them for her later…" She motioned the others to enter the well appointed space her parents used for entertaining.

Odell looked at the room and was drawn to the fireplace which was set for a fire. "Think your folks would mind if we lit this?" He asked the girl. "It will give some light and make things seem a bit friendlier."

"There are matches and a striker there in that copper box on the wall," Sarah said. "Just make sure you open the damper… if we got soot and smoke on Karen's furniture she'd have a fit… rightly so…"

Odell was already taking the screen away and reaching up to open the damper. "Not to worry, little lady….I'm an old hand at hearths." He wadded a few pieces of newspaper and lit them, before raising the burning pages up into the chimney to warm it and start the draft drawing. Moments later he lowered the paper into the stacked wood and kindling which quickly ignited. "There we go, nice and friendly." He turned to Sarah and held out his hand, "Odell...Odell Summers, and you would be?"

"Sarah Williams," she said quietly. "I suppose we should introduce ourselves, after all we've no idea how long we'll be here… I'm Sarah and this is my little brother Toby, and this is our home…"

"Arnie Bloomquist," the Scandinavian said quietly.

"I'm Johnny," the young man sitting beside the frothing girl said. "This is Ruth."

"Leeanne,"

"Ronnie,"

"Mike,"

"Chuck,"

Odell looked over at the obvious leader of their group, who spoke up. "Well Odell has introduced himself, that's Perrin, that's Merck and he's Rafe… I'm J.G." J.G. looked over at Perrin, who was observing the younger people in the room's reactions with amusement. "Perrin," he drew the other's attention. "How about a tune;" he pointed to the case that was at Perrin's side, and then looked at Sarah; "He never let's that out of his sight for long." Then without as much as a by your leave, J.G. King moved to Sarah's father's favorite chair, and parked himself like a pasha. The teens took chairs about the room, and looked at Perrin.

Perrin opened the case to reveal a very old and very valuable acoustic guitar. "He's right," he said as he tuned the beautiful instrument lovingly. "I never let her out of my sight for long."

"Her?" Mike questioned as he was seated closest to the man. "You think of that guitar as a her? I mean, it's gorgeous… but…"

"It is a _**her**_, and when properly stroked," his fingers strummed softly. "She sings for me."

While Perrin strummed and warmed up, Merck moved to the spinet piano that was one of Karen's treasures. "Is this in tune?" He asked a shrugging Sarah before sitting down and opening the lid. His fingers glided gently over the ivories and soon both he and Perrin were weaving music to sooth all the ruffled feathers in the room. The music soon had the others in the room relaxing and listening in comfort.

"I didn't know you were versed in classical music," Leeanne commented softly. "The fan sheets never mentioned that." She moved closer to the piano. "You play beautifully." She looked at the fingers moving over the keyboard with dexterity and proficiency she'd never observed before in anyone else.

"Thank you," Merck accepted the complement graciously. "Most of our fans don't relish the highbrow stuff you know."

Ruth glowered darkly from her seat. "I don't blame them …."

Johnny shot her a warning glace before he commented, "I like it…. It's mellow."

Thunder rolled, and the windows rattled, and Sarah worried about her parents out in the storm. She watched Toby saddle up to the man sitting in their father's chair, he was staring at the man with a confused look on his sweet little face. "Toby, would you like to stay down here until the storm clears?" she asked quietly. The boy nodded, but didn't say a word.

J.G. King reached out a careful hand, his finger tips swept into Toby's hair. It was a simple thing, just a touch. Toby reacted as if he'd known this man all his life, he moved closer and climbed up into the man's lap. Snuggling his head to J.G.'s shoulder, the little boy closed his eyes and rested protected in the man's arms. Dark lashes swept down over the stormy eyes of the man cradling the child. Gradually the stormy eyes migrated to meet the glace of the girl who was trying hard to mask the rising panic she was experiencing. His lips pursed, and he gave her a haughty and powerful gaze, one brow rising slightly.

Sarah looked at the man sitting in her father's chair as if he were master of this home. Fear's icy fingers gripped her heart and she wanted to yank Toby out of the embrace that he had settled into so naturally. She looked at the others in the room, and wondered why it was she seemed to be the only one who was disturbed by the presence of the Brits. "I'll see if I can rustle up some refreshments," she muttered needing to escape the room.

"That's very kind of you," King commented affably. "We don't mean to put you out." Long fingers now stroked Toby's fair hair.

"Not at all," Sarah fought to maintain her composure as she exited the room.

King looked down at the snuggling child; he had grown in three years. No longer a tiny tot, he was now an adorable little creature. Almost too pretty to be a child of the world of man, and yet he was not quite completely changed. He had fit into Jareth's arms so completely when he was an infant, so precisely, so perfectly. It had fired in Jareth an emotion he'd not dealt with until that moment. It had fired a need, or had it been the girl's drawing of him that had fired his need. He cuddled the child who was close to falling asleep in his arms. The both of them were so interconnected in the thoughts of the Goblin King, that he had trouble sometimes distinguishing which was which. The girl who he had coveted for longer than he cared for anyone to know, and the gold child she'd wished away. He closed his eyes, and for the first time in three years, allowed himself a moment to relax. His goal was close, and there was no one to stand in his way… all he had to do was be patient, let magic take its natural course.

Sarah lit three candles in the kitchen and the hurricane lamp that Karen kept oil in for just such an emergency. The flicker lights danced on the walls, casting dancing shadows. She had spent a great deal of time in this kitchen, watching her stepmother, and helping her. Now she knew just how Karen would have dealt with the 'invasion' of these uninvited guests. She moved swiftly to the cupboard, and pulled out Karen's cheese trays. Working like greased lightning she promptly pulled the supplies she needed out of the now defunct refrigerator, and closed the door to keep the contents cold until the power would be restored. She had watched Karen, and had gleaned a good deal of knowledge just from watching. She knew how Karen would set things up and mimicked that technique of elegance and panache. One thing Sarah would say about Karen was the woman had good taste and stylishness. What Sarah had mistaken as being controlling, was actually a sense of order. That sense of order was coming in handy now, as Sarah prepared to entertain the unsolicited guests. She wondered while she worked what had possessed Leeanne and Ronnie to come to her home after the concert. Had they suspected she'd need protecting from Ruth?

Ruth stood in the doorframe watching Sarah preparing the trays. "What are you doing?" her voice was angry and sullen.

Looking up to see the girl she'd just been thinking about, Sarah shrugged. "Preparing munchies …" She looked down at the trays. "It's not much, but it will be better than nothing."

"This is not a party, Sarah." Ruth charged pointedly. "We're stuck here because of this fucking storm, and for no other reason. Do you really think I want to be here? Do you think any of us want to be here?"

Sarah knew the girl was trying to cut into her, and raised her chin defiantly. "Do you really think I want you here?" she asked in reply. "Think Ruth, when was the last time I bothered to invite you here?" Ruth's mouth dropped open, but before she could speak Sarah barked an order. "Pick up that tray and carry it into the parlor for me." The other girl obeyed wordlessly.

Sarah followed Ruth into the parlor with the second tray and a basket with several kinds of crackers and flat breads. "I don't have much to offer in the way of liquid refreshment," she said apologetically. "I can make a pot of tea if anyone likes…and there are some sodas…" She cast a glance over her shoulder back at the kitchen. "I'd offer you something more...but…"

"Not to worry," King said contentedly still holding the now dozing Toby. "Tea or water will do fine, we don't really need or desire anything stronger."

Odell migrated toward the girl with green eyes. "Do you need a hand?"

Sarah jumped involuntarily. "No, thank you." She swiftly rejected the offer of help as she fled back into the kitchen. "I'll only be a few minutes."

Odell looked over at King with a raised brow, "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

King wore a satisfied smirk. "Not at all," he assured the drummer. "She's just a bit tense." He however knew it was more. "It's fine Odell." He assured the man easily as he cuddled the small fair child.

Ruth took her seat again beside Johnny, unhappy that she was not the center of attention. Leeanne and Mike were talking congenially with Merck who was fingering the ivories as he spoke to them in an uninterrupted spinning of a melody. With bitter and resentful eyes she glared at the child in the arms of the handsome Brit. The longer she looked, the more resentful she became.

"Do you know 'In the hall of the mountain king'," Leeanne asked suddenly inspired by the man's effortless working of the keyboard.

Merck's fingers halted, and the silence was deafening. Jareth, still cradling the sleeping child in his arms, commanded; "Play." Merck glanced over his shoulder and bowed his head before looking back at the keyboard. Rafe moved forward, taking a penny whistle from the inner pocket of his coat and placing it to his lips. He gently blew into the instrument and the notes floated onto the air in the room illuminated by the fire in the hearth.

Arnie was not as contented as the other teens in the room with the musical request. He was far from it. He had been hanging back, not talking to the band members or even to his own friends. He had watched Sarah trying to maintain some sense of composure, and remain a gracious hostess… something about the invading Brits disturbed him to the core. Each of them seemed too good to be true…. And J.G. King, with Toby in his arms seemed too content, too comfortable and at ease. Now with the combined music of penny whistle, guitar, and piano the thunder and lightening seemed to be joining in, accompanying the notes. As the song reached its zenith, there was more and more flashes of the blinding electrical bolts just outside the house. Arnie looked at the man sitting in Sarah's father's chair. What he saw took his breath away, and he flattened himself to the wall fearfully. "_**Himmel**_!" he exclaimed in his own language. "_**Skratta**_ _**Kung**_," his eyes were wide, and fear was their torch.

Jareth had been the only one to hear the utterance; he turned to look at the terrified Scandinavian. Enigmatically and in a sinister way Jareth smiled, his arms shifted and he stood up with Toby still sleeping peacefully in his arms.

Arnie opened his mouth, planning on calling out to Sarah, wanting to warn her. However when he tired, he found his voice frozen in his throat. Tears of frustration ran down his cheeks as he strained to speak.

Jareth, laid the sleeping child down on the chair, and then walked threateningly over to the Scandinavian teen. "Hush boy," he warned. "This is beyond you now…." He placed a thumb to the boy's brow and watched as the youth slumped down and crumpled into sleep on the floor where he landed. He looked over his shoulder, the music had induced a stupor effect on the others and while they were conscious they were not fully aware of their surroundings or the goings on. He left the boy crumpled on the floor hidden by the chair he'd been standing behind in the parlor. Jareth had no wish for harm to befall the lad; however he had no desire for the youth to get in his way….

Merck looked over at Leeanne; her eyes were glazing as were Mike's. He then turned to Rafe who was watching Ronnie and Chuck falling into the stupor. Perrin was concentrating his efforts to subdue Ruth and Johnny. The teens were all now falling under the spell of the magic of the musical notes, and the storm was reaching its zenith. Jareth moved stealthily toward the kitchen but movement on the stair drew his attention. He turned to look at the shadow that had shifted its position. He came eye to eye with the creature, setting his jaw he thrust his hand between the bars and pulled the one eyed knight from the landing and forward to face him. He dropped the creature the moment the tea kettle in the kitchen let out an ear splitting scream. The creature took off and ran up the stairs once more, up past the landing that led to the bedrooms and toward the upper floor and attic door. Jareth ignored the fact that he was in the mortal realm, ignored the fact he was standing in Sarah's foyer and sped up the stairs after the thing that had looked like a scruffy over loved plush toy. Enough of Sarah's house was already engulfed in the mists and betweens, that the King's powers were unhampered. He had seen the creature of his own kingdom enter the sanctuary of the attic and shut the door to keep him out. Without effort he passed though the door as if it were not there, and advanced on the trembling figure that was looking for a place to hole up and go into hiding. Reaching down, he plucked the little knight up off the floor. "Going some where, Sir Didymus?" he demanded.

Knowing his jig was up; the king's guard of the bog turned his one good eye toward the ruler of the Goblin realm and greeted him with courtly manners. "Sire, how well you look…."

--

_**Author's note;**_

_**Himmel is Swedish for "Heavens"**_

_**Skratta**_ _**Kung, roughly translates to "Goblin King"**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7. Folded over reality**

"What in the name of all that is unholy are you doing here?" he demanded of the scruffy knight parading about as a toy. He held the aging Goblin up so that they were looking directly into each other's eyes. "Don't lie to me, or try to confuse issues here either!" The King barked.

Sir Didymus faced his king with all his courtly manners covering him like chain maille, "Sire, I've foresworn an oath," he reasoned nobly. Gallantly he removed his plumed cap, "I am foresworn to protect yon fair maiden…"

Jareth promptly dropped the Goblin knight unceremoniously. "I see, and just where does that leave your oath of allegiance to me, sir knight?" Crossing his arms, he made sure he was blocking any path of escape. "Just how long have you been here?" His voice informed the knight he was not in a trifling mood. "And just whom is guarding your bridge?"

Sir Didymus dusted himself off and rose to his full height. "I've been here on guard for over a fortnight, Sire." He saw no reason to hide any truth from his king, as he was in his own mind doing the right thing. "I see no reason why one should be in question of the other oath… I am your loyal subject," he bowed deeply to the Fae lord of his realm. He sniffed defensively at the thought of his bridge. "As the bridge no longer exists…"

Jareth was not completely buying it, and suspected another's influence here. He used Fae powers to illuminate the room. "Where's your cohort?" he demanded. "Where's Hogsfeet?"

"Hoggle," the grumbled correction came from a corner of the room. Movement soon showed the hobbling gnomish dwarf. He had been silently watching as Didymus had received the light dressing down. Even now he was regretting allowing himself to be tricked by the King once more into giving his hiding place away.

Jareth gave him an unpleasant smile, "Hoggle," his tone was syrupy sweet. "There you are." He crouched down to gaze into the uncomfortable gaze of the dwarf. "Still losing your head over a girl, are you?" Knowing how it grated on the nerves of the goblin dwarf, Jareth kept to a pleasant conversational tone.

Hoggle's hand went swiftly to his throat, "I never said I was losing my head…"

"I see," Jareth's tone mocked the dwarf. "Then you weren't planning on doing some thing like, say… helping the girl again."

"Hel…helping the girl?" the dwarf stammered nervously. "Now what would make you think that….Sire?" he was looking for an escape, feeling more trapped than any runner of the Labyrinth had ever felt. "It would be very foolish to try and help…"

Fiendishly Jareth smiled at the little coward. "That's right, it would… and you've learned your lesson about helping mortal girls, haven't you?" His solicitous tone was more troublesome to the demoralized gardener than if the Goblin King had struck him with the riding crop that was usually in his hand again.

Hoggle trembled, while Jareth had not carried out his threat of dipping him into the bog of stench or making him its prince, he had done enough to him over in three years time to make him wearier of the King's unspoken threats. Intimidating and overwhelming the disheartened little man was far too easy a task for this Fae King, and Hoggle wanted to be more, he wanted to be everything that Sarah believed he had been. Sarah had forgiven him the betrayal, Didymus had commended him and found him brave indeed… and Ludo had called him friend. Thinking of Sarah and not wanting to disappoint her once more, Hoggle glared at the King. "I'm not going to help you," he warned the King in a surge of bravado. "You do anything to her or the boy and I'll snitch!" It was at the moment he made the threat that Hoggle realized the tactical error. His eyes grew wide with fear.

Jareth, still crouching regarded Hoggle with contempt and scorn, gripped the gardener by the shoulder roughly. "Are you threatening me, little one?" The King's voice had dropped several octaves and was now not threatening, it was promising trouble.

Sir Didymus rushed to the aide of his companion. "Of course not, Sire." Didymus knew that much as they both loved Sarah Williams, they could do her no good if the King exiled them or worse.

Wincing in pain, Hoggle remembered his place. "No," he shook his head. "No, your Majesty."

"Good," Jareth released his grip, his eyes narrowing as he viewed the one he considered the leader of the pack of three who had aided the girl in her quest. "See that you remember who you are, and who I am…" He warned as he stood up again. "I'm surprised at you!" He snapped. "I would have thought your last involvement with Sarah Williams would have taught you a lesson."

Sniveling and kowtowing to the dismayed personage of his King, Hoggle grumbled. "I can't help it." He fumbled with the plastic bracelet he'd worn since the moment that Sarah had traded to him for his help. "She does something to anyone in her company! She makes you want to be more than you are… she…she's…. I can't help it…" he mumbled.

Pained, Jareth sighed deeply. Hoggle had hit on a truth that even Jareth could not deny. Sarah Williams was no ordinary girl and she did something to everyone who was fortunate enough to draw her attention. He could not blame Hoggle for having fallen under the spell of the vixen, as he himself was still feeling the effects of desiring to be important to Sarah. "No," he agreed at last, "I don't suppose you can help it…can you?" He paced. "How many others have banded together with the purpose of rescuing Sarah?" Neither of the pair answered, Jareth looked from one to the other. "This requires a response," he barked.

Hoggle looked at Sir Didymus, he answered carefully but stammered. "How do you mean banded together?"

Piqued, the King crossed his arms and glared. "I will not be interfered with," the room began to vibrate. "I don't have time for these games… I must return before I'm missed…" He thrust out one arm and froze the two goblin subject in place. "When you decide to be loyal subjects once more you'll be free….Until then, you will stay put!" He watched as the two grasped the seriousness of their situation. He waved his hand over their mouths and silenced their voices. "And there'll be no warning Miss Sarah of her imminent danger." The room stilled and Jareth smiled menacingly, "I have plans for dear Sarah…"

--

Sarah could not shake off the daunting feeling of impending doom. She took the kettle off the stove, glad that Karen had insisted on an old fashioned gas range rather than a modern electric one. At least she could boil water and cook during this storm. She was working at keeping her panic down but was failing as the song being played was racking her nerves. The kettle had screamed just as the song was reaching its crescendo. With the removing of the kettle she concentrated on the setting up the tea pot, instead of the troublesome tune being played. She set up one tea pot and put the kettle on to boil once more; thinking two pots of tea was more efficient than just the one. She also felt a good strong cup of tea would settle her storm racked nerves.

--

Jareth entered the parlor, Merck was still playing the piano, and Rafe was still blowing into the penny whistle. Odell and Perrin were passing between the enchanted teens, deepening the spell being cast. Jareth watched, a wicked gleam coming into his eyes. "Are they completely enthralled?" He questioned as he looked at the teens. "I would hate for one of them to only be half way spellbound." He looked at Ruth, whose eyes were glazed with the enchantment.

"I know what I'm doing," Odell protested bitterly. "They are enthralled and programmed."

Perrin nodded in agreement. "The only one we didn't do was the boy… he's out for the count."

Jareth looked toward the place where he'd left Arnie, "Yes, poor creature, thinking he could warn our dear Sarah." Chuckling softly, he glanced toward the kitchen, and seeing Sarah still working on the tea informed his companions. "We've hit another glitch… some of my loyal subjects have chosen to try to mount a rescue."

Perrin didn't appear amused by the news; "They what?"

Odell finished placing one of the magical amulets he was secreting on each of the victims. He had slipped the pin under the collar of Ruth's blouse. "Cheeky lot, that's what they are." He snipped. "Thinking they could outsmart you."

"They've been here awhile," Jareth warned. "I think that's why the boy seemed so prepared for our invasion." He moved back to where Toby was laying asleep on the chair, curled up in a ball. "However, they didn't bother to warn the child, not that it would do any good… he's mine…. Just as the girl is."

"If you could choose but one?" Merck asked as he continued to play the music. He was not sure why he posed the question, only that he felt it needed to be asked.

"I don't have to choose but one," Jareth stated firmly. "I have them both."

Perrin looked at Toby from beside the King. "He's a child full of promise," he agreed. "He'll make a fine changeling." Turning to the King he asked; "How will you prevent him from joining in the games? You instructed us not to include him in the enchantments…"

Addressing Perrin, but knowing each of the others was listening he kept his tone businesslike. "Goblins, they are stationed all over the house. As soon as Sarah accepts the challenge they will take the boy to safety."

Odell licked his lips watching Sarah move in the kitchen with the second boiling tea kettle. "I'd take the girl…" his voice registered lusty tones he had not expected. "If I had to choose between them, she's a prize indeed. I can imagine the pleasures of teaching her a long deserved lesson."

Jareth's voice droned in his ear, "Mind on your task at hand, not my bird in the bush." His harshness met with a snicker from the drummer who finished his task.

"All our little quail are now tagged." Odell stated. "The game may now begin." He returned to where he'd been when Sarah moved to the kitchen.

Jareth lifted on hand, "Let these mortals behave as they normally would, until I have need of their services." He moved to where Toby lay asleep as if he'd just put him down.

Leeanne blinked dazed, "Wow, that was fabulous!" Mike nodded, somewhat dazed as he too came out of the stasis.

"Thank you," Merck smiled as Sarah carried in a tray with the tea and some cups.

"I hope everyone wants a good strong cup of tea," Sarah said as she entered, feeling a bit awkward. "Did Toby fall asleep?" She would have preferred to have taken him up to his own room and his own bed, but with this storm she was not taking any chances and wanted to keep him in her sight.

Jareth smiled as he approached. "Straight if you please," he requested when Sarah began to pour the liquid from the steaming tea pot. "Yes, he fell fast asleep. Such a sweet little boy."

Thunder rolled once more, and again the windows rattled, and Sarah fought the startled jump. "I was hoping that storm would end already." She was working at keeping the tea pot steady, not wanting to spill. "It seems to be getting worse instead of better out there…"

"Your friend with the radio said it was a super cell," Perrin said accepting a cup of tea from the girl. "He fell asleep as well," He motioned to where Arnie lay curled up on the floor behind a chair. "He looks peaceful; I suggest we not disturb him if we have no need to."

"How odd," Sarah whispered, trying not to spill as she poured.

"This fire reminds me of camping," Chuck said bemused and still stupefied by the magic in the room. "We should tell ghost stories or some kind of chilling thriller."

"Sarah should tell us a story," Ruth said, her voice sounded unnaturally cold. "She's so good at tales." Even in her enchanted state there was no hiding her bitterness toward her hostess.

Shaking her head, Sarah disagreed. "The last thing we need is a scary story."

"Why not a fairy tale then," Jareth recommended delicately, his eyes shining as he gazed at Sarah. "Everyone loves a good fairy tale." Reaching behind his back he called the book to his fingers. It appeared out of nowhere, without drawing attention from the spellbound teens. "Why not from this book," he handed it to Sarah and waited for her reaction.

Sarah stared at the red leather book in King's hand. "Where did you get that?" She asked in a trembling voice. She knew the book but her mind kept pushing the memory away from her.

"Toby gave it to me just before he fell asleep," he lied, and his band mates smiled with glee. "He said it was yours…."

Accepting the book, the girl with green eyes blinked swiftly. Odell whispered urgently in the king's ear. "Something's wrong… she does not remember… Something is keeping her from remembering…"

Jareth too was concerned, what ever enchantment the High King had used, Sarah should have instantly remembered the book if nothing else. "Is something wrong, Sarah?"

"I know this book," she whispered. "But I don't remember it…." She felt dizzy and wanted to let the book drop from her fingers. "I can't remember…"

Seeing her reaction, or lack of reaction, Jareth moved closer to her. "Open the book," he commanded ruthlessly. "Read the first line…" His hand moved to her waist and he supported her weight as her knees buckled. "Read, Sarah, read."

The other teens in the room seemed oblivious to her response to having the book placed in her hands. She sagged against the man and looked up at him with troubled eyes. "No, don't make me read…" she pleaded softly.

"Read," he ordered her again.

Trembling fingers opened the cover, and she read the first line. "Once upon a time… there was a beautiful young girl…." She hesitated, unwilling to go on.

"Read," he growled in her ear. "Read, I say."

"Whose stepmother always made stay home with the baby…." Sarah heard the catch in her voice and dropped the book. "No," she closed her eyes. "No…." She slumped more, nearly to the floor, shaking her head in rejection.

Odell turned to Perrin, "She doesn't remember!"

"Silence," ordered the King's closest companion. "Sire?" He moved to the King's aide, also supporting the slumping girl. "What shall we do now?"

"He's right, she's being kept from recalling, and what ever is being used, is causing her pain." Jareth placed his hand under her chin; she was refusing now to even look at him. "Perrin, call for Alexandraya, I have need of her expertise."

--

Alexandraya worked in the quiet of the catacombs beneath the castle beyond the Goblin City. She was making the comparison between two texts of similar spells, when the walls reverberated with the summons. Having never been summoned she wondered if the King were upset with her for some reason. In the years that he'd allowed her sanctuary from the High King's court, he had never once been moved to summons her. The wall before her shimmered and changed form, it looked alike a mirror before the image of Perrin formed.

"Lady Alexandraya," he gave her a curt incline of his head. "The Goblin King has need of your expertise."

"I am always at the King's disposal," she replied. "How may I be of service?"

Giving her a gentle smile, the Fae Lord held out a hand to her through the shimmering image on the wall. "King Jareth requests your presence."

For the first time since she'd come to the Kingdom, Alexandraya held back. "I cannot leave the confines of the catacombs," she gasped, desperation filling her tone. "The King knows this."

"We are on neutral ground, my Lady… I assure you… The Goblin King will allow no harm to befall you… you are safe." Perrin insisted.

Hesitating for an instant longer, Alexandraya fretted inwardly. "Of course," she said laying her anxiety and disquiet aside. Uncertain, but cooperatively she extended her hand to Perrin. The touch instantly transported her to the location of the King and his companions. She moved forward toward the King, her long skirts rustling as she moved. "You sent for me, my King?" Dropping down into a deep curtsey the woman bowed before her king.

"Lady Alexandraya," Jareth addressed her as he supported Sarah, the other teens in the room were staring with vacant gazes. "I need you to help me figure out what spell the High King has used, and if there is a counter spell…." He filled her in on the background quickly.

Alexandraya listened but kept her eyes on the mortal girl in the King's supporting arms. Jareth had not allowed her to sit, but was keeping her standing upright. "Oberon does not use memory spells lightly," she warned drawing closer. "Were this an ordinary spell, I'd say it should have broken the moment you and she were in contact." Touching the face of the mortal girl an electric spark startled the Fae woman. She turned to the King, "This girl is not…mortal…" Her eyes were accusatory. "What have you done?"

"While she and the child were in the Goblin Kingdom, I may have… _**inadvertently**_ … fed them…" Jareth tarried with the explanation, not really wishing to add another to his list of confidants. The shocked expression on the Fae woman's face caused him to feel a twinge of guilt as to his heavy handed actions towards Sarah. "I couldn't help it, Alexandraya! She was wining."

Alexandraya, her hands still smarting from the spark narrowed her pretty eyes, "Did you happen to mention this to the High King before he …." She watched the Goblin King's reactions. "You didn't," she sighed.

Perrin moved to prevent Odell from interfering in the assessment of the situation by the Fae woman. He prevented Odell from moving forward, however he could not silence the man's tongue. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Clenching her pained fingers, the woman looked at the four Fae Lords in the company of the Fae Goblin King. Her annoyance with Odell's query was obvious, her exasperation with the Fae King was more so. "You hold back information," she accused Jareth blatantly. "And then expect me to come in with some kind of solution to correct your mistakes?" She took a step back. "I am not a miracle worker."

"I have no need of a miracle worker," growled the now very defensive King. "I have need of a Fae who knows more about spellwork utilized by the High Fae of the Seelie Courts." He shifted Sarah's dead weight in his arms. "Do something!" he ordered sharply. "Or return to Avalon."

Anguish and misery replaced her look of annoyance. "You know I can not," she answered with bitterness. "I am exiled, for the very reasons you call upon me now, Goblin King."

Repenting his harshness, Jareth softened his approach. "Lady Alexandraya," his tone was more reasoning. "I regret my outburst, and if I've offended or distressed you, I apologize. It was never my intention to cause you to feel more pain… if you have some idea of something that could help…"

Setting aside her own grief, the young Fae woman moved forward again and looked at both the King and the young woman in his arms. "Theirs is but one thing that will restore her memory….One thing that will break the spell of the High King…"

"What is it?" Jareth asked swiftly. "Tell me and it shall be done, or arranged or…"

"You have to win from her a kiss of surrender." Alexandraya explained sympathetically. "In the place of her greatest accomplishment of victory…"

I have to take her back to the Escher room?" Jareth nearly released the dead weight of the girl in dismay.

"No, you didn't let me finish….Not the place of final victory… but in the place of her victory over temptation..." Her voice was impatient.

"You mean to tell me all we have to do is whisk her away to the remains of the crystal ball room and…" Jareth found the answer to be far too simple. From the calculated look on the Fae woman's face, he could see it was not quite that simple.

"No journey is ever quite that… straightforward… especially when one is dealing with mortals… Even if this girl is not fully mortal any longer, she was when you… provided Fae nourishment to her." Lady Alexandraya clasped her hand before her. "I'm afraid you are going to have to re-enact your excursion into the Labyrinth with her once more, Sire." Odell began to snicker, and Merck was on the verge of joining the mirth when the woman added. "I'm afraid you will have to include all these new players as well, including your companions."

"Come again," Perrin demanded. "You mean we have to run the Labyrinth as well?"

"More precisely, you must get to the center of this… house…" Alexandraya raised her hands in a gesture and waved about the room. "You created a paradox, Sire… you and this girl have bonded this house to the Labyrinth, _**inadvertently**_ …" she smiled now using the King's own words against him.

"Sarah must reach the center of the Labyrinth, but must remain here in the house, is that what you are telling me?" Jareth growled.

"Indeed," the Fae woman bowed.

"Bloody hell," Odell cursed loudly. "In other words we're like rats in a maze…."

"More like one big rat, and one cat…" corrected the coy Alexandraya. "You brought this upon yourself, Goblin King… If the High King had known you had tampered with the girl's mortality, he would never have tampered with her memory…. As it is you will have to trigger her memories… and this time my good King you had best win."

"What about the boy?" he looked over toward Toby still asleep on the chair. "Was his memory also tampered with?"

Hesitantly Alexandraya reached out a hand toward the boy, no sparks flew and she breathed easily. "No, the High King must have determined that he was too young to truly remember the incident. He therefore allowed him to be." She looked at the child fondly. "He's very pretty…" She turned back to the King. "On the night you lost to the girl, there was a storm much like this was there not?"

"Yes," Jareth felt the girl stir and start to quicken. He looked at her. "She said her right words, and my goblins took her brother to the castle…. I had not come here expecting to take away a baby… I had come here to… court this willful girl."

"And court her you shall…. A new story within the story," Alexandraya could see the portal beginning to fade. "I must return to the catacombs," she warned. "When she awakens don't try to force her to read the book… you must look to another to be the catalyst." She moved swiftly through the shimmer. "I shall be here should you need me." She promised once more in the safety of the catacombs. "Remember Sire, you have thirteen hours… Fae Hours…that house is now running on Labyrinth time…Good luck…."

Sarah shook her head, "What happened, I feel dizzy…"

Jareth released his grip. "I think that last bolt of thunder startled you." He covered for the girl. "Do you feel better now?"

Nodding the green eyed girl looked down at the floor and the fallen book. "Oh dear, I dropped the book, wasn't I going to read from it?"

Bending down, Jareth retrieved the book and set it aside. "Perhaps reading with just firelight is not a good idea." He looked toward Ruth expecting something venomous to come out of her mouth.

"I wish this house were part of this story," Chuck had picked the book up and was leafing through it. Both Jareth and Sarah stared at him in shock and disbelieve. He tossed the book back on the table with a haughty smirk. "It would be interesting to have Goblins running rampant all over the place, and having to find a baby…but all we've got is Toby…sleeping over…" He turned and gasped. "Where's Toby?"

Sarah's green eyes flashed fire. "You idiot, what have you done…." She blasted him angrily as suddenly little shapes and shadows began to move through the room in an uncontrolled frenzy. She had taken steps toward the now empty chair when she spun, facing Jareth as the memory of that night long ago came flooding back._**Lightning traced the veins of the sky and lit up his face. He was not smiling, as one might smile on greeting a stranger, nor was his expression fierce. His eyes were fixed upon Sarah's with an intensity she found compelling. When he took a step toward her, into the light shining from the doorway, she did not retreat. If his eyes had not hypnotized her, the golden chain around his neck might have. A sickle-shaped ornament hung from it, upon his chest. His shirt was cream-colored, open at the front, loose-sleeved, with silken cuffs at the wrist. Over it he wore a tight, black waistcoat. He was shod in black boots, over gray tights, and on his hands were black gloves. In one of them he held the jeweled knob of a curious cane with a fishtail shape at the end**_. _**The humming that she had thought she heard in the air was now quite distinct, and musical. The stranger smiled at her hesitancy. He was certainly handsome. She had not expected that. When she spoke, her voice was a whisper. "You're ... him, aren't you?" You're the Goblins King." **_ She had said the words aloud, almost trancelike, but now here eyes saw that he was not dressed the way he had been that night long ago. Tonight this man was dressed in modern style, with a stylish haircut and trendy clothes. However she knew in her heart of hearts that this J.G. King was the one and only Jareth, the Goblin King. She took a step back, "I want my little brother back," she whispered hoarsely. "If it's all the same…"

"What's said is said," Jareth crossed his arms, raising a brow. He looked over at Chuck, the last person he would have thought he'd have to thank for anything; "Interesting wish, young man."

Ronnie stared at him; the magic in the amulets Odell had secreted on each of them didn't seem to be working the way originally planned. "What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded. Chuck was watching the goblins popping in and out of drawers and making plans to see a really good shrink. He turned to her with vacant eyes.

Leeanne and Mike were huddled together and keeping very still.

"No," Sarah stomped a foot, "No! We did all this before… and he can't wish Toby away… he's not his….he belongs to me…." Sarah began to remember bits and pieces but it was alls still too foggy.

"Technically, he didn't wish Toby away," Jareth said almost too pleasantly. "What he did do was to trigger the magic that has lain dormant here in this house since that night three years ago."

"Where's my brother;" Demanded Sarah now panicking at the thought of having Goblins overrunning the house. She could just imagine what Karen would do when she came home and saw the chaos.

_**Jareth chuckled. "You know very well where he is." **_

_**"Please bring him, back, please." She heard herself speaking in a small voice. "Please!" **_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8. The way forward**

_**For a moment, they regarded each other, adversaries trying to size each other up at the outset of a long contest. Thunder rumbled. **_

_**--**_

They stared at one another, as if no one else was there, as if they were alone in the universe. The storm's resonance sounded again with thunder roaring as if to put in its two cents. Neither the Fae King dressed as a British rocker, nor the girl on the brink of womanhood seemed to be willing to flinch. The tension in the room was eclectic, and no one was going to escape unscathed.

Jareth looked at her, she had changed in the three years, and he could no longer deny the changes or even make light of them. This was not the fifteen year old who had played dress-up alone in the park with only a dog for her companion. This was a creature on the brink of womanhood, and she was… giving off the most delicious vibrations. There was hunger in the girl, and he intended to see to it that for now she'd be kept hungry.

Still he had to at least try to throw her either off course or lose all sense of his own pride. _**"Sarah ..." Jareth frowned, and shook his head. His expression was all concern for her. "Go back to your room. Read your books. Put on your costumes, play with your toys. Forget about the baby." **_

"Damn you!" she cursed flying at him with her hands in a claw-like position. Her nails were ready to strike him. "You can't take him…. He's mine…."

Exhilarated by the thrill of doing battle with her once more, Jareth easily caught her wrists and saved himself from being impaled. "I didn't take him," he corrected her.

Struggling with her foe she wondered why it was her friends were doing so little to help her. "You enchanted them, didn't you, you bastard!" she accused. She was also aware that the members of his band seemed less than perturbed by their skirmish, and she could only guess they were like this man that she vaguely recalled.

Using more strength than he'd had planned to, Jareth back Sarah up against a wall with a loud and rough thud, pinning her wrist above her head. "Settle down, you little spitfire," he glowered holding her securely. "We don't have a lot of time, and I have to tell you something important…"

"Right," she snapped angrily. "You're going to tell me I have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth right? You're going to dramatically wave your arm, open a window and create a portal…." She was having tiny flashes of memory, and they were giving her a head ache but she could do nothing to stop the angry torrent of words coming from her mouth.

"Wrong," he growled into her ear. "There's no portal to be opened…. Or don't you understand English? _**The house is already part of a portal**_… one you and I seemed to have created upon our last encounter…"

The girl stilled, her struggles ceased. "What?" Green eyes stared at him with dread, and with flashes of recognition.

Taking very deep, very slow, and very deliberate breaths, Jareth spoke evenly. "It's a different game, my dear… different rules because of what you and I did the last time…"

"_**We didn't do anything**_," she argued softly, not willing to allow others to hear something she felt was private. Yet even as she made the denial, she wondered.

"Didn't we?" he disagreed in a suggestive manner, with raised brow cocking his head to one side. "Do you really believe that?" He taunted knowing she could not remember clearly thanks to the faulty spell cast by the High King. "Are you sure?"

"Stop that," she looked at the others in the room to be sure they were not getting the wrong idea. "You know darn well we didn't do anything… I'm still…"

"Innocent," he whispered in her ear, preferring the old fashioned term to the vulgarly spoken word virgin As the word left his lips, she began to quiver in his grasp. "Something tells me it's not a state of being that you… enjoy."

"That's none of your business," she replied weakly lowering her eyes.

"What say we make it my business?" His memory of their last encounter was unhampered in his mind, and he leaned closer, to whisper in her ear. "Sarah," knowing that the very way he said her name had thrilled her before when she was too young to understand why. "_**I've brought you a gift**_," he pressed his body closer to hers. "Only this time," he growled enticingly. "The ball is not crystal…" She arched, she had not meant to, she had not wanted to. However something caused her to react to his suggestions of sexual arousal and release. "If you turn this way… it will do more than show you your dreams, my sweet… it will make them come true…" Her pheromones changed, shifted violently as she reacted to him. "Do you want it?" He nuzzled her ear and upper throat. "Well, do you?"

Their bodies were separated only by the garment they were uncomfortably wearing, and Sarah could feel the heat coming from the hard and throbbing bulge he was pressing against her. "That not fair," she moaned breathlessly.

"It never was," he answered pulling back ever so slightly so only the barest of pressures was between them. "Are you ready to listen to me?" She nodded. "We have thirteen Fae hours…."

"Fae hours?" she interrupted. "What the hell is a Fae hour?"

"Time in other realms is not quite as… stayed as time in your realm; it's more flexible and malleable. Hence the ability to cause time in your realm to seem like it has stood still, or moved on at a snails pace." He mused gently, still keeping her wrists above her even though she was no longer struggling. "This house, its occupants, and its contents are all now on Fae Time. Even if your parents wanted to rescue you they could not as they and the rest of the mortal world are outside our… boarders."

"Whoa! Come again, how is that possible?" Sarah twitched under his fingers.

"I've tried to tell you, your house is part of the Labyrinth and has been since that night three years ago." He claimed with only mild interest. "AS I was saying, we have thirteen Fae hours in which to find Toby…."

"Together?" her suspicions were raised.

"No," he admitted freely. "We will be working in opposition to each other. You will be searching this house with your friends and I shall be searching with my friends… separately, but after the same goal."

"But you have powers," she protested in a whine. "Oh why did Chuck have to make that stupid wish?"

"It would seem you didn't do a very good job of educating your friends," Jareth suggested haughtily. "They seem to know even less than you did about the power of words."

Trying to sort the flashes of memories, she winced. "Why can't I remember?" she groaned. "It's there, and I can't remember…"

Looking down at her face, Jareth sensed a moment of pity for the girl. "Three years ago," he said in the most impersonal voice he could muster; "You and I encountered each other… you …"

Sarah blinked; horrified by the flash of memory that was plaguing her. "I wished Toby away?" She questioned.

"Indeed," The Goblin King watched her face, looking for signs of recall. "What else do you remember, Sarah?"

_**Sarah's lips parted involuntarily**_ and her eyes glazed over slightly. "You… offered me a gift… my dreams if I would forget the baby…." Her voice was a monotone drone. In her mind she could see the scene so clearly.

_**Jareth raised his left arm, and made a large gesture with his hand. Sarah looked around, thinking that he was summoning assistance. When she faced him again, a glowing crystal had appeared in his hand. "I've brought you a gift, Sarah," he said, holding it out to her. **_

_**She paused. She could not trust him. "What is it?" **_

_**"A crystal, nothing more. Except that if you look into it ... it will show you your dreams." **_

_**Sarah's lips parted involuntarily. With a teasing smile, Jareth watched her face, while he spun the shining crystal around in his fingers. Her hand started to reach out for it. He smiled a little more, and withdrew the crystal from her. **_

_**"But this is not a gift for an ordinary girl, one who takes care of a screaming baby."**_

_**His voice was quieter now, and huskier. "Do you want it, Sarah?" He held it out toward her again. **_

_**This time her hands remained by her sides, and she made no answer. Her eyes were fixed on the dancing, flashing glints of the crystal. To see her own dreams -- what wouldn't she give for that? **_

_**"Then forget the child," Jareth said firmly. **_

_**While Sarah hesitated, another bolt of thunder and lightning illuminated the sky behind the Goblin King. She was torn. The gift was not only seductive, it was also the choice of someone who understood her, someone who cared about the secret places of her imagination and knew how infinitely much more they meant to her than anything else. In return, she would have to trade her responsibility for an offensively spoiled child, who made endless demands on upon her and never showed the least sign of gratitude; who was, after all, only her half brother. The crystal was spinning, glowing. **_

_**She willed her eyes to close. From behind shut eyelids, she heard a voice answering. It was her own voice, but it seemed to be a memory. "I -- I can't. It isn't that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me ... but I want my baby brother back. He must be so scared**_

_**..." She opened her eyes again. **_

"I want my baby brother back," her dazed words escaped her lips. Looking up into his eyes, she whispered before she could stop herself. "Your eyes are so cruel…."

"We have thirteen hours, Sarah…" He repeated, withholding all his emotions that threatened to flood over. He could not afford to pity her, nor could he afford to give in to the urge to antagonize her further. "In which to find your baby brother…." Cautiously he released his grip of her wrists and moved back. "Forget all you know about this house, its part of the Labyrinth now and it will try to trick you and trap you."

"If that's true won't it….just hand Toby over to you?" She didn't trust him, deep inside she knew instinctually that he was not telling her everything.

"Ordinary, yes," he mused. "As the King of the Goblin Realm and the Lord of the Labyrinth, it would and should fall under my dominion…. However, I'm only able to use my powers to act as an obstacle to you." Waving about the room, he laughed lightly. "My vast powers are useless except against you. I have to travel the house just as you do, I will be subjected to the same deceptions and ensnarements as are you."

"Whose idea of fun and games was that, Goblin King?" she asked with scorn dripping.

Jareth smiled, disarmingly, and licked his lips. "Not mine Sarah," he assured her coyly. "I would much preferred to have just transported you straight into the heart of my Kingdom… and watched you try to find your way out…"

"So whose game is it we are pawn of?" Sarah demanded.

"The High King of the Seelie Court," Jareth disclosed. Seeing her eyes half glaze he demanded coldly. "What do you know of the Seelie Court?"

Staggering back and bracing her back on the wall behind her, Sarah franticly searched her conscious memory. "Fae's are divided into two courts… Seelie and UnSeelie…." Returning her gaze to the Goblin King and the four others who were watching she asked. "What category do you fall into?"

"Which do you think?" He challenged smugly.

Shaking her head, Sarah frowned. "I'd hazard a guest," she sighed deeply. "But my gut says not to take what I know at face value."

"Finally learned not to take things for granted," he teased with a cold laugh. "Too bad the lesson came so late…"

"OH, just tell me what we are expected to do," she snapped. His presence was making her very uncomfortable, and she was beginning to worry about her friends in their stupor states. "Give me the rules…"

Perrin laughed and covered quickly to make it seem as if he were coughing.

Jareth sauntered forward, his hands to his hipline, and even though he was not in the Regalia of the Goblin King, he was senescing. "We have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth's extension in this house. To find the center…."

Sarah pushed off the wall, holding up one hand. "That's too simple… there's more… what is it?" She half expected him to pull some trick, to draw a crystal from the air and turn it into a reptile…. She blinked, had that happened?

Shrugging Jareth countered her inquiry. "Why should I tell you everything?"

"We did this before," she said with firmness, positive she was right. "And I won…."

"Did you ?" He countered yet again. "Did you really?"

Placing a hand to her aching head she looked at him, "Your… High King took my memories?"

"Well not exactly… he just sort of clouded them," Jareth gloated. "They are all there… just beyond your reach… they have to be triggered….and… I'm the only device to trigger them." He smiled wickedly. "So it's not really the baby you seek this time, Sarah…" he laughed cruelly. "It's me."

"That's sick," Sarah charged pointing her finger at the Goblin King. "And I sincerely doubt it was the High King who made that happen… this is some trick of yours!" She didn't like the smugness of his face, and she wanted to rebel against him and his game. "What if I refuse to play your little game, Goblin? What if I just sit down and wait?"

_**Jareth snorted, and tossed his mane of blond hair. He had lost patience with the girl. "Don't defy me,"**____**he warned her. Charging forward he gripped her shoulders roughly.**_ _**"You are no match for me, Sarah." Jareth sounded impatient. **_Startled and alarmed by the physical contact she gasped. "You had your chance to turn back, you should have used it then… now it's too late… we are in this whether we like it or not."

"How do I know you're not lying… that you can't use your powers to find Toby?" Sarah demanded. "How do I know your Fae friends won't use their powers…."

"You'll have to take my word on it, Sarah." Jareth snarled. "Oh and don't be looking for any Goblins to help you this time," he warned coldly. "I've taken steps to prevent that from happening…. The only help you have are these mortals gathered here."

"You bastard," she snapped. "I'll find Toby, and when I do… I'm making sure you never get near him again… I'll find what ever it takes to keep you away…"

"Care to sweeten the pot?" He countered just as aggressively and as forcefully. She had not pulled back but faced him like a tigress. "Care to make an exchange for the boy?"

"Go to hell," she growled under her breath. "I'm not trading one of my friends for Toby… I found him before; I'll find him again…."

"I don't want your pretty friends, Sarah… I want something far more personal…." Jareth let his voice drop several octaves.

Raising her hands to break his hold on her, she recoiled. "You can't have Toby and you can't have me…"

"Can't I?" he taunted knowing she was torn. "We'll see…" He turned on his heel, and motioned his companions to follow him as he headed toward the kitchen. "Happy hunting Sarah…"

Leeanne moved forward. "What are we to do?"

Sarah looked at her friends, they were dazed, and she was aware that they would not remember this when it was over. She didn't really know how she knew, she just knew. She assessed the teens standing before her. Leeanne and Ronnie were into folk lore. Johnny was something of a gaming freak, and Chuck and Mike were longtime Scout leaders and had skills she thought might come in handy. The only wild card was Ruth, who even in the dazed enchantment seemed to be carrying her resentment like a shield. "We have to treat this like a scavenger hunt…" Sarah surmised. "But we have to sick together… look out for traps and," she searched her memory. "Don't take anything for granted…" she motioned them to follow her toward the kitchen and the mudroom.

--

Perrin was closest to Jareth, as soon as they were out of earshot he said tersely. "You lied."

"I stretched the truth," Jareth countered.

"Why didn't you just tell her you need her to kiss you;" asked Odell as he followed them into the room that was shifting even as they walked. "Then we could all go home…"

Pausing and casting a look over his shoulder at the man, Jareth asked. "What fun would that be? This way she thinks I'm powerless and hunting for Toby…"

"And we're not?" Odell asked blandly.

"Of course not," Jareth turned to walk on. "I know exactly where Toby is…"

"You do?" Merck marveled, "Where is he?"

Halting at the back stairs, Jareth looked up. "He's safe and sound, asleep in his own bed."

"Then all that back there," Rafe joined in the conversation.

"Was subterfuge," Jareth admitted. "You heard Alexandraya, I must win a kiss of submission from Sarah…what better way than to force her to relive her journey… only this time things won't be so easy for her… So much has changed." He laughed before starting up the stairs.

"What has changed;" Demanded Odell following Jareth up the stairs.

"She was a child the last time we… dueled…" Jareth said with conviction. "She's no child any longer…"

"She's still an innocent," Perrin reminded him as he too came up the stairs. "She's unknowing…"

"Not precisely," the Goblin's King charged. "She may not have acted upon her urges, but she's got them… and she's ripe…"

"You plan on tricking her into kissing you?" Merck asked somewhat confused.

"Far worse," Jareth said reaching the second floor. "I plan on triggering every memory I can, enticing her and goading her. I'm going to have her leading a merry chase in which she will lose her companions one by one…." He waited until they were all present. "And then I'm going to rip the victory right out of her hands and show her what it feels like to fail…"

"But are you going to trick her into a kiss?" Odell demanded.

"Better," promised the Goblin King. "I'm going to trick her into demanding one…."

"And when the memory spell is broken and she realizes what you've done?" Perrin asked mildly amused.

"Then I'm going to claim my rights," Jareth smiled coldly.

Odell noticed something in the house's changes and warned Jareth. "You'd better hope the High King does not learn of this until it's over." He pointed to the wall urgently.

Jareth's attention went to the wall as well, "For now the house is under the enchantment that the Labyrinth is providing… let us hope our thirteen hours is enough…"

"Let us hope no one at the Seelie Court is aware of your… misdeeds." Merck offered. "Which way?"

"Forward," Jareth ordered. "Sarah Williams is about to learn her house is not her home any longer…"

--

Sarah hated leaving Arnie on the floor, but figured it was safer to leave him then to try and move him. As she and her companions moved toward the kitchen she began to hear things, and see things.

"What's that?" Chuck asked as he too heard the sounds.

"The house is opening portals to the Labyrinth," Sarah said sounding very knowledgeable about what they were experiencing. She was going on gut instincts. "The rooms are no longer just the rooms of this house; they are passages into different areas of the Labyrinth…" She passed the portrait of one of Karen's grandparents, the eyes followed her movement.

Chuck thought she was kidding, turned to look at the portrait and halted in his tracks. "Sarah, this picture just winked at me…"

"That's nice," Sarah said calmly. "At least it didn't try to bite you."

Chuck hurried along.

When the group reached the stairs in the back of the kitchen, Ronnie asked; "Which way?"  
Sarah looked up, saw Jareth looking down and gulped before whispering. "Forward …"

--

Jareth had sent his minions off to various rooms with various tasks to perform. He looked down over the banister until Sarah looked up. Giving her a smirk, he pulled back and chuckled softly to himself. Slowly he strolled down the hall toward the room where Toby was sleeping. He touched the door and it seemed to vanish, becoming part of the ongoing wall. Then he hurried along down the hall to where the landing of the grand staircase stood. He looked up to where the attic room door was partial open and smiled. Soon Sarah would be chasing her own tail, and he would simply waltz her down memory lane…..


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9. Separated and humiliated**

Sarah had seen the face of the Goblin king with that damned sexy smirk and cocky tilt of his head looking down at her from the floor above. She didn't like that he was so adept at drawing a response from her. And she really didn't like that her house was so accommodating to him. He was far too comfortable with this folded over reality, and she was feeling like she was the stranger in her own home.

Pulling back she turned to her companions, "We have to go up…" she pointed to the passage. "Stay together and don't touch anything!" She warned.

Chuck snorted as he pushed Ronnie to follow Leeanne and Mike up. Johnny looked over at Ruth, somewhere in the back of his mind he had wanted to ask her something. However the words were escaping him just now. The six teens followed Sarah up the back staircase and to the second floor landing.

Looking at the archway, and the corridor, Sarah began to feel edgy. "This is a trap," she said quietly. "But I don't know how or why…." She looked at her companions, each of them were wearing a slightly dazed glassy eyed gaze. "I've done this before… why can't I remember?" Closing her eyes, and placing the heels of her hands to her temples, Sarah fought to find a shred of memory regarding her last encounter with the Goblin King. Only bits and fragmented pieces filtered through.

"Which way do we go, Sarah?" Leeanne asked quietly.

Removing her hands from her head, the girl looked at her companions with a long deep sigh. "In there…" She took the first steps, and found that what had been a long straight hall was now a twisting and turning corridor that resembled…a maze. "Stay together," she warned. "This hall will shift at will and we don't want to be separated."

--

Perrin stood beside Jareth, both stood over Toby as he slept peacefully on his bed; "Why the game?"

"You heard Alexandraya," Jareth murmured distractedly. "I must win a kiss of submission…."

"Yes," agreed the other Fae. "I did hear her, but why not just explain to the girl, be reasonable."

"Three reasons," Jareth stated trying to sound regal and dignified. "First, because she is still trapped in her mortal state and Mortals as they 'mature' tend to give up or deny the power of the Fae realm. This little jaunt will reawaken magic in her. Second because the house is part of the Labyrinth we will remain undetected by the Seelie Court… we are not doing anything out of the ordinary… thanks to the summons we received. And thirdly because I prefer to win a kiss of submission from that willful wench rather than talk one out of her."

"Then it's all about you?" Perrin smirked.

"Of course," Jareth looked down at the sleeping Toby.

--

Fifteen minutes later the teens had not gotten very far. Each time they moved forward the walls shifted position and corkscrewed. "Can't we leave some kind of marker?" Chuck complained.

"It wouldn't do any good," Sarah stated now having a memory of doing just that. "First I don't want to mark up Karen's walls, and second, this is part of the Labyrinths' defense system… you leave a mark some goblin comes along and erases it or puts it somewhere you didn't mark."

"Goblins," scoffed Chuck disparagingly. "Oh come on Sarah, you don't really believe in Goblins, do you?"

A dark shape scurried down the hall and vanished into a wall. The teens had all seen it and Sarah turned calmly toward Chuck. "Yeah, I do…" She held out her hand to Leeanne. "Everyone link hands… we need to keep really close to each other right now…." She had a flash of a memory and it had sent shivers down her spine. "Everyone hold on…." The group snaked forward and the path behind them became a dead end.

Ahead of them on what had been a doorway into the spare bedroom stood a pair of guards. They suspiciously eyed the teens as they drew closer. "Halt," cried one in a heavy Scot's accent. "Come no further."

"We have to find our way to the center of the Labyrinth," Sarah declared as they stood before the pair.

From beneath one of the shields the pair stood behind a head descended and peered at them. "Why?"

"I have to recue my brother…" Sarah felt as if she'd done this before and it felt right. "But," she looked at the door behind the pair. "There's only one door… shouldn't there be two?"

"Should there?" challenged one of the faces from above the shields.

Sarah held fast to Leeanne's hand. "This is different." She grumbled. "There should be two doors, one leading to the center, the other to…."

Gleefully one of the heads on the top side of the shield ridiculed her with a mocking, "And the other leads to certain death!" then both joined in a chorus of "_**BA BA BA BUM!**_"

Johnny, who'd been pretty quiet up until now grumbled from behind; "Jolly."

Sarah looked at the pair, "There's only one door," she shook her head. "So it can't…"

"Can it not;" Challenged one of the heads from below the shields.

"It's a ruse," Sarah sighed. "No matter what you answer, the door leads to the path designated to that answer." The four goblin guards snickered and jeered at the girl and her companions. "Okay… how do we open this door?" she asked the pair of sneering goblins atop.

"You have to solve a riddle," boasted the one guard, his accent getting thicker. "Are ye up ta it lassie?"

"Up or not," Sarah sighed. "What's the riddle?"

The other head above the pair of shields covered his mouth with his hand and laughed heartily into it. The head with the thick accent inclined his head to the door. "The door itself is the riddle…" He looked at Sarah with his beady eyes and snorted. "Ye have to choose one way or the other to go…. Right or left." They parted and the door now had two handles, one on the right side, and the original on the left.

Ronnie felt Chuck release her hand, she wanted to cry out, to warn Sarah. She found she could only watch. Chuck shoved his way forward and even shoved Sarah out of his path. "To hell with this game," he growled. "Just open the fucking door." His hand connected with the left door knob. The sound that came when the door opened gave everyone a jolt of alarm. It was somewhere between a whoosh and the roar connected with the gates of hell opening. Chuck was sucked into the room by the vacuum created, and the door slammed shut behind him.

The two guard heads above the shields turned to each other and snickered. The two below mouthed, "He chose poorly."

Ronnie's hand had connected with the person behind her, Johnny the moment that Chuck had let go of hers. She whispered her beau's name, but kept hold. The door was shut, and Ronnie was still with the companions… in a way she found she could not blame Sarah for any of this… what part of her mind that was functioning on a logical level found the only person she was willing to blame for this was Chuck. He was the one who had opened the door to goblins and this misadventure in her mind at least.

Sarah however was not missing that it could have been her that had been sucked into the vacuum. "You rotten..." she slammed her free hand into one of the shields; "Goblins!"

Both heads above the shields ducked down, one of the heads below snarled at her, "Takes one to know one;" In a childish and churlish tone.

Leeanne pulled at Sarah's hand. "Don't taunt it; we know which way to go, thanks to Chuck."

Sarah knew the girl was right, and reached for the knob before stopping herself, something about this was all to familiar. "Wait a moment," she cocked her head to one side. "How do I know that this is the right way?" There was a glimmer of memory. "How do I know you won't just open up a trapdoor and drop us down into an Oubliette?"

"What's an Oubliette?" asked Johnny in the back of the line.

"IT's a place they send you to forget you," Ruth informed him.

Sarah looked back at her. "Yeah, that's it alright." She looked at the cowering shields. "Well?"

--

Jareth was watching the drama unfold, and Perrin snickered. "She caught on a little too quickly, didn't she?"

"Did she?" asked the King, he flicked the orb and it began to spin.

--

Moving back, Sarah pressed through the gathered friends and pushed at what looked like a solid wall behind them, she then ran her hand over the wall until it reached a place where it passed into open space. "I thought so…" she moved into the space, pulling her companions in with her. "There are openings all through out the Labyrinth! You just have to know how to find them."

Mike grinned at her as they all were now walking forward. "How did you know about that?"

"A worm told me," Sarah said before she could stop her self.

"Disgusting," muttered Ruth as she walked along.

The new passage went downward, Sarah warned the assemblage of friends to watch their steps.

--

Perrin looked at the King and commented slowly. "You wanted to separate them from Chuck, but not go into that door…why?"

"Sarah will have to take that path by herself," Jareth explained. "And I'm not done humiliating her… not by a long shot. I don't want this little donnybrook to be over too soon." He checked on Toby one more time. "Stay here with the boy… keep watch," he ordered his close friend.

"What shall you be doing while I'm protecting this boy?" Questioned the Fae Lord mildly.

"I'm going to stir the pot," teased the King as he vanished.

--

The downward passage opened up to what looked like a topiary garden. Sarah could not recall anything bad having happened in this place. Or at least it had not triggered a memory. She moved forward, inching her way into the garden, and listening for… well, she was not really sure of what she was listening for. Something told her they were being watched, and she frowned.

Mike wriggled his nose; it had been itchy for a little bit now but he had declined the urge to let go of the hands he was holding and to scratch it. He could resist no longer and as soon as he let go of Ronnie's hand he knew he was in trouble. A vine slung forward, captured his ankles and yanked him away. He let out a yelp, but it was too late.

Leeanne narrowed her gaze and made a huffing nose. "Why'd he let go?" she demanded.

Ronnie looked forward, "I couldn't stop him," she complained. "He let go before I could warn him not to…."

Johnny tightened his grip, not certain, but guessing one of the four of the companions was going to be the next to disappear. He was certain he didn't want to be next.

Sarah looked at the hedge, someone else had been with her, but the blank wall of her memory would not reveal who it had been. She felt abandoned, and knew it was not because of Chuck or Mike's disappearances. "We go on," she said determinedly. "We don't have a choice; once the path is taken… you can't... Go… back…"

"Spoken like a heroine," mocked the voice above them on the path. Jareth stood behind them watching their progress.

"Tighten grips," warned Sarah as her fingers knotted with Lee's. "Don't look at him, don't listen to him, and don't…" She turned to walk away only to find herself butting up against the very person she was trying to escape. "Damn it, that's not fair!"

"I don't have to be," Jareth teased. "My job is to distract and divert you… remember?" He didn't try to move aside, or back. He stayed right where he was, and forced Sarah to be the one to retreat.

"Unreasonable, deceitful and…"She grumbled backing up into Lee.

"You forgot, disarming, charming and damned sexy…" He taunted crossing his arms. "Oh dear, Sarah, your numbers are dwindling." His tone was one of mock sympathy; "Such a pity."

"Ignore him," admonished Sarah. "He's trying to trick us… we must be on the right course."

"Right course, wrong course…" teased Jareth maliciously; "Who can say?" He slid forward, as if on skates and leaned suggestively toward the girl with Green eyes. "WE could end this all now… send everyone home and …."

"Shut your mouth," barked Sarah.

Jareth blinked but looked at her with a come hither gaze. "Make me," he growled.

Sarah didn't back up again, she didn't like the idea of him herding them. "Get out of my way you … fake!"

"Fake?" this truly seemed to startle and then piss him off. "What have I faked?" He began to raise his voice.

"You're not stopping me, not with your phony baloney taunts or your suggestive leers… Get out of my way." She took a menacing step forward, not sure if she had the power to back up her threat, but unwilling to just be pushed back.

"Why on earth would I want to stop you?" he asked coldly. "By all means, Miss Williams…proceed." He bowed and vanished.

Leeanne looked at Sarah. "Just how do you know him?"

"Don't ask," Sarah groaned before taking another step forward. "We go on," she said sounding a little less convinced.

--

Odell looked up when Jareth appeared in the hall outside the oubliettes. "Two down," he announced and pointed to the two occupied cells. "Four to go…"

"Five if you count my minx," countered the King.

"I'd very much like to count her," replied the Fae with a lusty grunt.

"Was that count, or mount?" Jareth bantered.

"Take your pick," Odell snickered darkly. "Too bad there are no more like her at home." He made a bawdy gesture, and grunted again. "That's the kind of girl makes a man long for Beltain."

Gripping the others collar and yanking him back, Jareth stared down menacingly into blue gray eyes. "Just remember one thing, Odell..." he glowered. "She's mine."

"Right," Odell said with a high and mighty self-aggrandizing snort, "And Jareth, King of the Goblins does not share… I've got it."

--

They were nearly out of the strange garden when a horde of Goblins with sticks came racing out at them. _**Four goblins were tormenting them with nipper sticks, long poles with small, fierce creatures on the end of them that bit like piranhas whenever they were given the chance. **_Involuntarily and trying to protect themselves the teens dropped hands and scattered. Each of them were dodging the vile creatures on the poles and screaming. When the nasty little goblins holding the nipper sticks vanished after the attack, Ronnie and Leeanne had vanished as well and Sarah was alone in the hall with only Ruth and Johnny.

Ruth glared at her, "Are you trying to get us killed?"

Sarah sank back against the wall, fighting tears. "I can't help this; I can't remember what happened…."

"We should have taken that book with us," Johnny said in sympathy.

Ruth looked at him, she seemed displeased and cross with him. "Siding with her, are you?"

"Stating a fact," he replied unaffected by her disdain.

Sarah sulked, feeling very sorry for her-self. "She's right," she brooded. "This is my fault." She bit back the tears. "It's me he's furious with… and it's you who are suffering." Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she whimpered. "Oh, it's not fair."

--

Merck and Rafe marched Ronnie and Leeanne down to the cells between them. The girls held each other's hands tightly for fear of losing one another. They looked at the Fae who were escorting them with apprehensive gazes. Odell opened the door of one of the cells, and motioned the two to step in. When they had, he shut the door and sealed it. "This is too easy," he complained. "And why allow these two to be together?"

Jareth had stood silently while the girls were urged into the cell, now he looked at Odell with something that made the youngest of the Fae Lords tremble, it was an unpleasant smile. "I've no need to be… cruel to these two little wenches…they are unimportant in these games, mere pawns." He turned from the rest and moved toward a wall that opened to receive him. "Keep them safe…I've no quarrel with them...as yet."

Odell looked at the cell containing the two girls who were seated side by side in a near catatonic state. "I hope he knows what he's doing…"

Merck looked in the cell as well. "He doesn't care…" Deeply sighing, he waved a hand to make the young women as comfortable as possible. "As he says, he has no quarrel with these two…. Nor even with these young men….it's the girl he has his quarrel with."

--

Ruth, who seemed the least affected by the talisman pinned to her collar, turned to Sarah and demanded. "What now?"

Taking a moment to regroup and gather her self together, Sarah looked at the hall before them. "That way…" she said half heartedly. "He's leaving us only one way to go…."

"Ten to one you're the next to be taken away," Ruth charged Johnny nastily. "He's playing ten little Indians with us!" Her eyes darkened as she turned her venom on Sarah. "Just what did you do to him?"

"Beat him at his own game," Sarah disregarded the huffiness in Ruth's voice. "Come on… we may as well get this over with…" She strained her memory, "I seem to recall losing all my companions… but not like this… He's changing the way things happened… and who they happened to…."

"Nice playmate you have there, Sarah." Ruth bitterly snapped.

--

Jareth looked into his crystal, heard Ruth's summation that Johnny was the next to go. He was not sure why he wished he could reverse the order in which he was taking the companions away. He found himself not liking Ruth at all. And leaving Sarah with her for any length of time gave him a very nervous feeling. He tossed the crystal he was holding upward, it grew large and thin and burst into tiny particles of glitter.

--

The hall widened, twisted, turned and became a clearing. "I remember this…" Sarah gulped and reached for Ruth's arm. "There were some weird guys who can take off their body parts… toss em about and play this strange game…." Ruth looked at the girl as if she'd lost her mind.

Pointing to two sets of yellow beaded eyes, Johnny asked. "Is that them?"

Ruth looked, her mouth dropped open.

Sarah grabbed for their arms. "Run… don't ask questions, just run!" She turned from the clearing and headed back the way they had come only to find a wall where the hall had been. "That's not fair!" she screamed as she huddled with her back against the wall.

Ruth panted, out of breath and demanded, "What the hell are they?"

"I don't know," Sarah admitted. "I don't think I ever really did know what they were." Her eyes got wide. "Where's Johnny?"

"He was right behind me," Ruth gasped turning to look over her shoulder. "Johnny!" she cried out, concerned about someone other than herself for the first time in a long time. "Sarah; will they hurt him?"

"I don't think so," she said pulling away from the wall. "They're gone and it's shifting again." She pointed to what had been a clearing and was now just a hall.

"All this because you beat him at a game;" Ruth asked acrimoniously; "Seems a bit over the top to me… what is it you're not telling me?"

"I don't know," Sarah complained brushing back her hair. "If I knew I'd stop this whole stupid game."

The other girl didn't believe her.

--

The Fiery gang led Johnny down the hall; all the way he was trying to negotiate with them, haggling for his freedom so he could at least try to help Ruth and Sarah. They shoved him along; every so often they would pull at his ear or at his shoulder. They were very disappointed by the time the arrived at the area where the Fae Lords were awaiting their arrival. Johnny looked at Odell and held up a hand. "He's not going to hurt the girls is he?" he asked frantically.

Odell seemed startled, and reached forward to be sure that the amulet pin was still attached to the mortal. Seeing it was he jerked his hand back, he twitched before he answered. "As far as I know he has no intention of harming them…." Opening a door to an empty cell he motioned the young mortal male in. "His quarrel is not with you or your girl friend."

Johnny paused in the door way, "Why are you all helping him?"

Merck frowned, "I thought you said these amulets would dull their senses."

Odell's blue gray eyes were troubled. "They are supposed to."

Rafe touched Johnny's face, inspecting the mortal's eyes. "He's mortal…." He said unconvinced. "We'd better check the others," he suggested cautiously.

"Things not going according to your plan;" Johnny strolled into the cell as if it were his idea to enter.

Merck motioned Leeanne and Ronnie forward; he looked at them and frowned. "This spell is not working the way it's supposed to… someone better warn Jareth…"

"If you can," Johnny mused as Odell began to shut the chamber's door.

Half way through closing the door, Odell wrenched the door open again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shrugging, Johnny muttered. "I don't think your friend Jareth is exactly in charge anymore…if he ever was..." the young man took a seat on the bench provided and leaning on his thigh, placed his chin in his upraised palm.

Odell looked at Merck, "You'd better warn Jareth, I'll stay here."

--

Ruth reluctantly followed Sarah down the hall, until they found themselves back in the parlor of the old Victorian. "You led us in a circle," she accused Sarah.

Sarah turned to her, exasperated. "Do you really think I planned to? I need to get to Toby!"

Refusing to take another step Ruth flung herself into a chair. "What's the big deal with Toby? Three years ago, you couldn't stand him…" She reminded Sarah. "I remember you complaining bitterly about him, I remember you saying how much you hated having to wait on him hand and foot…."

"I was stupid," Sarah leaned on the arched door way into the parlor; "Stupid, and spoiled." Burying her face into her hands she groaned.

Feeling no pity, Ruth lounged back in the chair, placing a leg over the arm. "So now he's gone, and you're free of him… isn't that what you always wanted?"

"No," Sarah denied compellingly. "That was never what I wanted, not really." She felt her heart pounding again and knew the Goblin King was near. She looked up and said aloud. "I never wanted to really be rid of him; I love my little brother…. Please… Please give him back."

Laughing at her companion's pleas, Ruth sneered. "Why complain? You're free now… you don't have to watch that brat…"

"He's not a brat," retorted the girl with green eyes. "He's just a little kid, and he didn't do anything to deserve this…."

"Unlike the rest of us?" Ruth raised her brow suggestively, implying that the teens were guilty of something ribald.

Crumbling inside, Sarah pulled her arms about herself. "That's not what I meant Ruth," she whispered hoarsely.

Ruth stood up, "Well Sarah, I'm the last of the little Indians who started this contest of wills at your side… And it's my turn to vanish and then there is none…." She walked past Sarah into the hall. "So come and get me!" She shouted. "I'm tired of playing this game… you want vengeance on this stupid girl? Take it, but leave me out of it!" Before Sarah could warn her about saying things she didn't mean Ruth vanished in a swirl of glitter.

Sarah stood in the foyer, and a clock on the landing began to chime. She looked up and heard the King's voice telling her. "_**Time is short…"**_

--

Jareth was observing Sarah's conversation with Ruth, he didn't feel the surge of victory he had thought he would when Ruth vanished. Instead he felt something akin to pity for poor Sarah. The appearance of one of his Fae Lords distracted him. "I thought I told you and the others to guard the mortals…"

"Jareth, something has gone afoul," Merck warned. "One of the mortals is asking questions and making sense… he suggested that… You're not in charge of this game any longer… that perhaps you never were." He spoke carefully, not really wanting a trip to the bog of stench.

"Go back and guard the mortals," Jareth insisted.

Merck noted the disquiet in the Goblin King's manner and quietly departed.

Jareth dropped the hand with the orb, and spoke quietly; "If I'm not in charge, then who is?" He could hear the soft sounds of tittering snickers, a sound he had come to know intimately. "The Labyrinth," he hissed under his breath. "What game are you playing old friend?"

--

Sarah looked at the main staircase of the house, never before had she feared anything quite as much as she feared going up the stairs. "Well," she sighed. "I've got no choice." Slowly she moved toward the first step. "The hardest part of any journey is the first step." She told her-self aloud. Her hand moved to the knell post and she bit down on her lower lip. "Come on feet," she sighed. The stairs groaned; something she'd never noticed before. The sound was like thunder in her ears.

At the landing she paused and squared her shoulders. "I can do this…I did it before." She said in a convincing tone.

"That's what they all say," teased one of the guards behind the pair of shields that appeared in the hall. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked her.

"I'm going to find my brother," she pointed her index finger into his face sharply. "And you're not going to stand in my way!"

Goblin features broke into a smile, a wicked and taunting smile. "I wouldn't dream of it," he said and stepped aside. His counter part also stepped aside, leaving a path between them.

"Alright then," Sarah said as she moved past them. When the hall went dark she had a feeling that she'd just made a very big mistake. The floor dropping out beneath her convinced her of that fact.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10. Darkness reveals so much**

_**The picture of her silent face was clearly beamed to a crystal in the chamber of the Goblin King. "She's in the oubliette," Jareth observed. The goblins cackled wickedly, dancing and prancing around. Their jaws gaped with merriment, and they slapped their thighs. **_

_**"Shut up," Jareth told them. **_

_**They froze. Their heads twitched around to look at their King. A sly goblin inquired, "Wrong laugh?" **_

_**"She shouldn't have gotten as far as the oubliette." Jareth was still staring at the picture of Sarah's face in the crystal. He shook his head. "She should have given up by now." **_

_**"She'll never give up," said a keen goblin. **_

_**"Ha." Jareth laughed mirthlessly. "Won't she? She'll give up soon enough when she has to start all over." He chuckled, imagining Sarah's face when she found herself beside**_

_**Hoggle's pond again. Then he threw back his head and roared. The goblins watched him uncertainly. Was it all right to laugh now? "Well, go ahead," Jareth told them. With the simple glee that is natural to evil-hearted folk, the goblins launched themselves into their full routine of cackles and snickers. The keen goblin directed them, like a conductor, bringing them up to a crescendo of malign mirth. **_

_**--**_

In his hand the orb showed her falling, the helping hands grasping at her, and this time they were not even bothering to ask her which way she wanted to go. They had received orders from the King, she was to be dropped, _**gently**_, but dropped into the Oubliette. It was like watching a rerun for the King, watching her descend into the darkness of the round cell he'd held aside for her and her alone. This time when the lid was shut, there was to be no dwarf to light the darkness and calm her. Jareth flicked his wrist and the orb vanished as if it had never been there, until there were only the shadows and the dim light from above. He waited, like a wolf for a lamb. No longer dressed in the garments of the British rocker, but in the handsome dragons hide jerkin and charcoal breeches he'd worn in the tunnel when Sarah last visited.

--

Sarah landed on the floor of the oubliette with a thud, not nearly as graceful a landing as her pervious visit to this cell. She had no doubts that this was the very cell she'd been in before, it even smelled the same. "Great," she groaned picking herself up and looking up toward the opening that darkened and blinded her; "Just great."

Knowing the wall was only a few steps back behind her she straightened up, and placed her hands out a few inches on either side of her and slightly behind her body line. She began to inch her way backward. Each step was carefully measured in her mind. One, two, three… her right hand made contact with something hard but it was not the wall, Sarah froze; "Oh my God," she eeked as her body went stiff with fright.

"If you like," behind her the voice she dreaded hearing was in her ear droning. Slowly the Goblin King snaked his left hand over her hip under her blouse and about her slender waist. He smiled, enjoying her discomfort, but also the hand that seemed to have become paralyzed in contact with him. "Perhaps we should discuss methods of worship…" he teased.

"This is so not happening," Sarah groaned.

His right hand gently came to rest over the hand that had come to rest on his kingly budge. "I assure you my dear, it is." He crooned, and felt her shiver in response.

"This is not what happened before," she reasoned.

"No?"

Sarah wanted more than anything to be able to move, but she seemed to have forgotten how. Her hand was still resting on the hot, hard, throbbing bulge in the King's pants. She was afraid to move, and was beginning to hyperventilate. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"I haven't done a thing…" he teased; "Yet." His voice dropped several octaves and reverberated in her ear deliciously. "Thinking of taking me up on my offer?"

Offer, Sarah questioned in her mind, what offer? The heat against her hand seemed to grow more intense, as the throbbing began to become deeper and stronger. "What offer," she muttered aloud before she could stop the words.

"Playing coy?" he asked as his left hand pulled her closer. His right hand gently guided her hand over the length of him. "My gift Sarah," he crooned. "Are you ready for it? Do you want it?"

The shaft beneath her hand became even harder if that was possible, and seemed to thicken. "You're joking," she squeaked.

"Never," he purred as the hand that had been at her waist began to migrate up her ribs. "I'm very serious." She shivered delightfully as his fingers moved over the cup of her bra. "We could make a trade, mine for yours…." Flexing his fingers he gently kneaded the mound of womanly flesh that had matured in three years. She was no longer just a pretty girl child… too old to turn, too young to keep. Those days were forever gone. She was ripening and ready to keep… and keeping her was exactly what Jareth wanted.

"Stop," she whispered, not sounding convincing even to her own ears. "Please, stop…"

Nuzzling her neck, breathing in the sweet scent of the shampoo she used on her long thick hair, he murmured. "I don't think so." Jareth closed his eyes, taking pleasure in the uneasiness and embarrassment she was experiencing as well as the contact of her hand on his manhood. Even if it were through all the layers of clothes, he was enjoying her touch and the fact that she wouldn't or couldn't remove her hand.

"This is insane," she whispered harshly. "You're just trying to slow me down…"

Jareth's left hand had moved the fabric of the satin bra cup and his fingers were now brushing against the hardened raised nub of her nipple. "How wicked and fiendish of me…" he teased. "Is this so… unpleasant? Or do you like it?"

Shuddering under his touch Sarah yelped, "Stop that!" and pulled away only to stumble and fall to the floor of the oubliette.

Jareth produced an orb and made it light up before he crouched down. "You liked it," he winked with a gloating smirk plastered on his face as the accusation left his lips.

Embarrassed and mortified by her reactions, Sarah looked at him as she leaned up on her elbows. "Give me a break," she snapped. "I'm only human…."

Gazing at her with a wicked smile, Jareth nodded. "I know."

Self-conscious the girl with emerald green eyes sulked. "You've changed everything around…" She sat up and confronted the Fae King. "Even with my Swiss cheese memory I can tell things are not as they were…. Why are you changing things?"

Jareth released the orb and it floated in the air, keeping the space lit up. "_**I'm not**_," he said with a wistful smile.

"Of course you are…" she protested only to have one gloved finger cover her lips. The feel of leather on her trembling lips was shocking and wickedly delightful. Sarah gasped but was stilled.

"No, my willful little minx, _**I'm not**_." He removed his finger once he was sure she would listen. "You and I are not the only players in this…wicked little game…we never were."

Sarah had not meant to stare at this mouth, she had not wanted to notice how full and generous his lips were. Nor had she wanted to wonder how they would feel, all over her… not just on her lips, but on… Sarah shook herself violently; "Who else?" She asked trying to concentrate. "There's only you and me and Toby… Clearly you're not going to accuse Toby…"

"The Labyrinth…" Jareth interjected, finding the confession much easier than he'd thought it would be. He saw disbelieve, the distrust, and the refusal to accept his words. "Surely you didn't think my wonderful Labyrinth was lifeless. Not after all you experienced that last visit."

Shocked, and reeling, the girl rose to her knees grabbing his lapels into her trembling hands Sarah barked, "You mean it's alive?" Her eyes had widened, and were vivid with panic.

"Of course," his hands removed hers. He had confidence that he now had the upper hand where this mere mortal was concerned. Then he reminded himself, she was not exactly a mere mortal any longer thanks to him. "You and I started this game… three years ago… and neither I nor the Labyrinth was satisfied with the conclusion. Were you satisfied?"

Scooting back on her knees Sarah glared at her antagonist. "So you are doing this!" Her tone accused as did her eyes. She needed to keep her mind off his question, because she was not confident she could answer truthfully. "This is entirely your doing!"

"Let us say, _**you and I**_ put things in motion three years ago…" He countered with a cocky smirk.

"I don't trust you," she said in a voice that quivered.

"I don't blame you," he shifted his position, now on his knees and leaning onto his gloved hand, flat against the floor. Feral eyes blazed, nostrils flared and there was a deep growl emitting from his throat. _**HE**_ was a predator and she was the prey. No longer too young to keep, she was a ripe peach and he wanted a bite… a big juicy bite. "You should have turned back, Sarah." He glowered. "You should have gone back to your room and played like I suggested…"

"I couldn't," she forgot her fear for a moment. "I had to save Toby…" Once more she felt the urgency and the fear she'd known that night three years ago. Fear and guilt, feelings she didn't enjoy.

"He was fine." Jareth taunted; "Perfectly happy and contented."

Sarah was still scooting back on her knees, wondering where the hell that other wall was and why it wasn't against her back. When her hand and foot connected with fabric on the floor, Sarah looked over her shoulder. The beggars' cloak was in her path, and she panicked. Turning back to face the King she growled at him, she knew they were no longer in the oubliette, now they were in the tunnel. The House, or Labyrinth, or a combination of both had conspired against her. "Planning on calling the cleaners again?"

"Not at all," he licked his lips with the tip of his tongue. "You're one little pest I will take care of myself." He kept moving her until she was backed up against the wall he'd been sitting against when he ambushed her in this tunnel. "Still think the Labyrinth is a… _**piece of cake**_?" he scoffed as he pressed closer.

Sarah swallowed the inexplicable lump that gathered in her throat and wondered who'd turned the heat up. "You can't do this," she protested weakly. Sarah stared at him, in the illumination given off by the glowing orb that seemed to follow them everywhere. He was beautiful and yet untamed, just as the goblins were untamed and yet civil. He was a paradox, and contradiction in terms and a conundrum. Crawling on the floor, herding her in the direction he wanted, and looking at her with those feral eyes. Fear was giving way to something else, something Sarah had not experienced and was not able to give a name to.

"Of course I can Sarah," he countered haughtily. "I'm the King… what I want to do, I do… I make the rules and the laws." The ground beneath them shuddered and quaked, and Jareth sighed deeply. "I'm sorry…" he said aloud. "The Labyrinth has a point… she's in control of this particular game. She's making the rules as we go along… and I suggest we don't piss her off."

"She?" Sarah quivered. "The Labyrinth is a she?"

He moved his hand side to side. "Yes and no." He lowered his hand, breathing her in deeply. "It's not really male or female… it's a sentient being…living, breathing, _**breeding**_…." Again he dropped his octave and she quivered. "You make my mouth water," he teased.

"Why is your Labyrinth picking on me?" Sarah was no plastered against the back of the wall, and panting. "I won, wasn't that supposed to be the end of it?"

Like a wolf stalking its prey, Jareth rose to his knees; his hands now skirted the sides of her body. "You were not supposed to win," he breathed heavily as he gasped at his so intimate touch. "Damn woman," he moaned in pleasant pain. "Do you taste as delicious as you smell?"

"You stay back you… you… you wolf you!" Sarah ordered turning her face away from his. "It's not fair," she struggled.

Jareth paused, wolfishly his lips curled slightly, and his teeth looked considerably sharper than they had moments before. "You say that phrase one more time," he warned threateningly. "I should have thought you'd have had enough of that particular phrase by now…"

Sarah wanted to shrink back from him, just as she had three years before. Three years ago… the flash hit her like a thunderbolt. "Hoggle…" she said slowly. "Where's Hoggle?" The lust and hunger for the girl faded from Jareth's eyes upon the mentioning of his subjects name. Sarah once more gripped his garments. "What have you done to Hoggle?" She demanded sharply.

"Not nearly what I could have or perhaps should have done," he assured her menacingly.

Green eyes glared at him, as the girl refocused her attentions. "I want to know what you've done with him, Jareth…."

The Goblin simpered. "That's the first time you've used my name, Sarah…. I was wondering if you ever would." When she looked unimpressed he quickly stood up, moved away from where she stood and looked at the dark tunnels on either side of him now. "He's here…." He said at long last with a huff.

"Where?" Sarah demanded.

"Your attic," Jareth sighed, "Along with Sir Didymus…. You should be thankful they didn't include that great beast in their misguided efforts."

"In the attic," the girl stood up and stared at the ceiling of the tunnel, wondering if it would change. "What are they doing in my attic?"

"Apparently they've been coming here to 'protect' Toby." Jareth mused enigmatically.

Foreboding crept into Sarah's heart, "If they can how many others could?"

"Could what?" Jareth mused watching her turn a fine shade of green.

Sarah looked at him with troubled eyes. "How many other Goblins could come into my house?"

"Any that wanted to," he stated flatly. "Sarah, I told you… you're house is part of the Labyrinth…. And any of my subjects could come here…"

"No…" she waved her hands while she began to pace back and forth franticly. "No, no, no!"

Jareth leaned on the wall of the tunnel amused by her sudden state of dread. "I thought you liked my subjects," he accused.

"They don't belong in my house…." She snapped, just before the tunnel rumbled. "What the hell was that?"

Jareth looked down the tunnel and frowned. "I don't know," he admitted. "But it didn't sound good…." He produced a second orb, as the first was still giving illumination to the tunnels. The orb remained dark in his gloved hand, and Jareth cussed lightly under his breath. Turning to Sarah he grabbed her wrist, "Run, don't ask questions, just run!" he ordered her as he tugged her to follow him.

Instict kicked in, and Sarah knew in her soul of souls that Jareth was worried. "The Labyrinth pissed at you too?" she asked as they began to race down the tunnel ahead of something they could not and really didn't want to see.

"You could say that," he huffed. He pulled her past the opening in the wall where she and Hoggle had fallen into an antechamber out of the way of the cleaners. When she tried to go in he tugged her and forced her to follow him. "That's not the way," he warned.

Sarah wanted to trust him, his voice sounded sincere. "But we went up that ladder…"

"That ladder leads to a dead end now," he huffed as he pulled her past the wreckage the cleaners had left in their path. "There's a niche up ahead, that's where we want to go."

"If this is a trap…" she warned as they moved swiftly toward the niche in the dimming light. "What's happening?"

"As you so richly put it, the Labyrinth is pissed," he moved her slightly ahead of him and shoved her into the small opening in the wall of the tunnel.

Pressing in as far as she could, Sarah was not surprised when she felt the King's body press against hers. She heard and felt his breathing slow, as he used his body to shield her from whatever was roaming the tunnel. His arms wound about her, his hands clutched and held her close protectively. In that moment, the moment that danger was upon them, Sarah knew Jareth had never allowed harm to befall her during her journey; not the first time not this time. She leaned her head back and rested it on his shoulder and breathed very slowly. In response to her, Jareth inclined his head, and rested his lips at the temple of her brow. Silently they stood, Sarah wrapped in the safety of Jareth's arms, and Jareth ready to shield her from any danger.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11. Temptations' taste**

Sarah held her breath as did the man holding her, she could feel the floor of the tunnel behind them quake and rumble with the weight of what ever it was that was roaming freely. Just as suddenly as it had come, the danger was gone. Sarah looked over to the face of the man shielding her. "Where to now?" she whispered.

Mismatched stormy eyes looked down at her, "We must part company again…" he sighed. "You and I both have to complete this learning journey…if we are to correct our mistakes of the past."

"Mistakes?" she questioned softly. "We made mistakes?"

"Indeed," Jareth lamented.

"But I changed," she latched on to the arm that was beginning to release her. "I stopped being spoiled… I changed!"

"I know," he assured her as he disentangled from her. There was a painful ache in his voice, and he could not hide or disguise it. "Sarah, we have to finish this…"

With difficulty she turned and faced the Goblin King, "I don't know how…" her head was throbbing and she thought it would explode. "I can't remember…"

"It will all come back to you," Jareth promised. "I didn't mean for this to happen…" he apologized softly. "I meant for you to remember, but not like this…" He longed to run his fingers through the long strands of thick brown hair, to kiss her brow and ease her pain. However until she surrendered in the place of her victory, he was prohibited from the actions his heart cried out for. "Not much longer…" he promised as he stepped back into the tunnel. "Soon…"

Sarah saw him vanish into a mist, and she slumped against the wall of niche. Stepping out into what had been tunnel she found herself facing a staircase. The stairs seemed to go on forever, but Sarah was sure it was just another illusion of the Labyrinth. Somewhere in the back of her memory she could still remember another staircase. NO, not one, but many in a room where things were not as they seemed. Stairs going here going there going everywhere. Stairs that went up, stairs that went down, and some that went nowhere. Arches that were right side up, upside down, and some on their sides…. The memory gave her already throbbing head more pain.

There was nothing behind except for the niche, and she knew she could not stay there much longer. Time was slipping away, she had to find Toby or… or… she paused. Or what? Had the Goblin King said what would happen if she didn't find the boy? He'd said that he was looking for the boy as well, but somehow Sarah doubted that. Some inner sense was telling her he had lied to her, and she should not trust him. And yet, he had used his own body to shield her from whatever it was that had put them both in danger only a few moments ago, hadn't he? Sarah looked up, then back over her shoulder. The tunnels were gone, but the niche was still there. This staircase was fairly normal in appearance, unlike the one in her flash of memory.

_**"The way forward is often the way back," **_a wise sounding old voice reverberated in her mind so clearly she thought someone was beside her.

_**"Even if you get to the center of the Labyrinth," Hoggle's voice echoed. "You'll never get out again."**_

Sarah wondered why she had not understood the warning. She wasn't even sure she understood the warning now. She wondered what else she'd forgotten, and whom else. She placed her hand on the banister and taking a long deep cleansing breath took the first step up.

--

Jareth entered the room of the sleeping boy, looking past the child toward the Fae Lord he'd charged with the safety of the child. "We've got trouble," Jareth warned Perrin. "The Court must have discovered my…intrigue."

Perrin's concern shifted from the child sleeping to his King. "Are you alright?"

"No harm has befallen me, yet…" Jareth looked at Toby sleeping peacefully the sleep of the innocent. Even in sleep his changing form was easy to discern. "We need to have time to play this out… I pray I can elude the court's interference." He moved closer to the boy. "He's almost completely changed."

"If Oberon learns what we've done," Perrin warned. "He'll make demands…."

"I'll not give him the boy or Sarah…" Jareth's voice took on an edge. "He had no business interfering in the first place…. This was goblin business… and the Labyrinth is on the war path now…" He looked again at the boy. "Guard him, Perrin… see that no one enters this room after I leave… not until the change has reached the point where it can not be stopped."

"It's nearly there now," Perrin said with conviction. "Soon no one will be able to stop the inevitable… and you will have a new subject for the Kingdom… a changeling."

"Two new subjects," Jareth corrected. "And both will come to live with me in the castle beyond the Goblin City…"

"I don't think the girl will come willingly, not even with the change." Perrin warned.

Coldly Jareth looked at his friend and confidant. "I don't care, she'll come."

"Jareth," Perrin reasoned. "Just as this boy is changing so is the sister… but are you sure you want to force them to live with you?"

"Perrin," Jareth's tone was impatient and slightly harsh. "I appreciate that you are trying to counsel me…. And that you have concerns… but what else can I do? I'll not have the kingdom's Fae gossips tarnishing the girl's virtue… and they would… The first time I visited, were the girl not in my home…. No… it's better my way… she will live in the castle with me, and she will be my wife." He moved toward the door. "How she feels about me is irrelevant. She will be my wife…."

"An unwilling wife is hardly good for the Kingdom sire… and even less well for the King." Perrin scoffed. "Jareth… woe her… give her one more chance…."

"You know what she did," Jareth lamented.

"I also know what you did," Perrin calmly replied. "You plotted against her from the moment she stepped into your kingdom… Oh I know all about how you moved heaven and earth for her, and how you kept her from real harm… how you sent her where she'd meet with subjects who would be helpful to her…yes… I know it all…" Perrin looked at the boy. "I also know this child was never your intended target that night… had you not given her the power to use the words…. Toby Williams would not now be a… changeling."

"I am guilty," Jareth retorted. "And I am paying for my guilt… and I'm trying to make sure this child suffers no more…"

"Suffers no more?" Perrin argued. "You are about to take him out of his home, away from his parents and into the Fae Realms as a changeling!" The Fae Lord moved forward. "Have you given one thought to his parents?"

"No," Jareth admitted quietly. "I have not."

"Tonight they lose not only their son, but their daughter as well…." Perrin lamented.

Stonily Jareth looked at his friend. "They lost Sarah three years ago; they just don't know it…" He looked at the boy. "Watch over him…"

Perrin held his tongue, knowing that his friend and King would not allow anymore discourse on the subject. "I will." He watched as the king vanished in a swirl of dark glitter, quietly moving back to the bed he took a seat. He had promised, and would keep that promise.

--

Odell paced anxiously, "Something's gone amiss," he muttered.

"What could possibly go wrong?" Merck asked checking on one of the cells. He paused, blinked and turned to look at Rafe, "Odell's right," he pointed into the cell in which they had placed Chuck, and it was now empty. "One of our guests is not where they are supposed to be."

Odell rushed over to the door to the cell. "What?" he barked.

Merck stepped aside to allow him to see. "Who wants to tell Jareth?"

Rafe pointed to Odell, "He'd better…"

"Bloody Hell!" cursed the youngest of the Fae Lords before turning away from the empty cell. "I knew this was too easy." Stomping away from the door he called out, "Jareth, Jareth!" He took a deep breath and called again. "Jareth, we're in trouble…." His voice resonated and the walls of the dungeon pulsated with the call for help.

Jareth appeared; his garments were no longer the garments of the British rocker, but in the handsome dragons hide jerkin and charcoal breeches he'd worn in the tunnel. "What's happened here?" he moved toward Odell.

"One of our chickens has blown the roost!" Odell pointed to the empty cell that was now open for inspection. "I thought you said they were all mortal?"

"Here I thought the girl Ruth would be the problem child," Merck said looking in at the girl seated and meditating in her cell.

"Bloody Hell, Jareth," cussed Odell. "What is going on?"

"I don't know," Jareth moved into the cell to see if he could find a trace of Fae magic. There was none. "No glamour was used," he stated firmly. "He's not Fae…."

"A familiar?" offered Rafe quietly.

Dread filled the stormy eyes. "Only one person I know of would dare use mortal familiars…"

"Oberon," Merck muttered.

"Yes," Jareth agreed. "Oberon… he must have suspected I'd desire going after the girl….so he salted her circle of friends with a familiar to keep track of her…."

"That's damned unfair," Merck complained not thinking of how that phrase would upset his King.

Wincing, Jareth began to pace. "If Oberon is using a familiar that changes the game and raises the stakes; I doubt he thought we'd find the bugger missing so soon…." He checked in the cell doors on the other guests. "Everyone else is accounted for…."

"Except the lad you left in the parlor…" Odell reminded Jareth with a snort.

The Goblin King smiled, and turned to Odell, "There are times I could kiss you."

"Don't," warned the younger Fae with a raised hand. "What ever I said, you're welcome, but no kissing…."

"Watch the rest of our guests…" Jareth warned. "I have to go wake up our sleeping friend… he's going to upset the High King's apple cart."

--

Arnie had been sleeping restlessly on the floor where Jareth had left him. His body twitching and jittering; Jareth appeared in the parlor and knelt down to where the lad lay. "Wake up boy, your help is needed…" he whispered softly.

Arnie's eyes fluttered open, he was still lying on the floor, but now he looked up into the eyes of the Goblin King. "Himmel," he muttered.

"I mean you no harm," Jareth assured the young man; he extended a hand to the boy to help him sit up. "You know who I am?"

"_**Skratta**_ _**Kung**_," the boy said in an awed voice. "But you cannot be here, no one wished away a child…." his Scandinavian eyes were troubled.

Smiling at Arnie's simple understanding, Jareth shrugged. "Well that's not entirely true…" Jareth placed his hand on the lad's shoulder. "Don't think less of her, but Sarah wished her brother away three years ago…"

"Took your time in staking a claim?" Arnie asked sarcastically.

"No, my goblins took the boy three years ago…"Jareth replied softly.

The Scandinavian blinked, "How can that be; _**he's here**_…"

"Sarah ran the Labyrinth…" Jareth explained. "And she thought she won him back…."

Trepidation turned to a scowl on the boys face. "You did something…. Out side the rules…"

Nodding, Jareth stood up. "I fed the boy…" he admitted.

Arnie didn't try to stand; the news just delivered to him by the Goblin King's own lips was enough to turn his legs to jello. "You fed the boy? Himmel!"

"Yes, well…" Jareth shrugged. "I never thought she could win…. I thought she'd give up… but that's besides the point…"

Arnie was racking his brain, remembering every tale his granny had told him back in the old country. "Mortals who eat of Fae food… change."

"That's right," Jareth agreed. "And tonight is three years to the day since I fed the lad… and his change is progressing as we speak…"

"Sarah will tan your hide," Arnie cautioned as he moved tentatively to stand, but something in the King's eyes stopped him and he gasped. "You fed her as well?"

"Yes and no…" Jareth hedged. "She had but one bite…" His hands made a small gesture. "Hardly even a swallow…."

"Six seeds were enough for Persephone," barked the boy who was now on his knees. "What did you feed her?"

"A peach," Jareth smiled coyly remembering the enchantment. "An enchanted peach… it didn't work exactly as I had thought it would… She was supposed to forget everything… but the Labyrinth had other ideas…."

"Himmel," cussed the boy. "Now I see why she's always avoiding peaches…" He stood up on shaky limbs. "So Sarah is changing as well?"

"Yes, but that's not why I awakened you." Jareth announced. "You see, Sarah made it though the Labyrinth… and that much the High Seelie court knew… You do know about the High Courts don't you?" the boy nodded and the King continued. "Well they didn't know I'd fed Sarah and the boy… and they sort of put them off limits from me… and tried to limit my powers and duties… And to be sure I didn't interfere in the girl's life, they seeded her friends… one of the young men in your company is a familiar…."

"Which one?" Arnie asked already his mind was sorting the friends. "No, let me guess…it would have to be Chuck."

Jareth nodded, "Why did you pick him?"

"Because he's the one who never really fit, he's always lording over us, or his car, or his status…. He's… the only one who could be used against Sarah." The young man looked at the house. "What's going on here?" He could see the changes far quicker than any of the others had.

"The Labyrinth has invaded the space… The house became part of the fabric of the Labyrinth three years ago, it has helped keep Sarah and the boy from being discovered…. And now…" Jareth again touched the boy's shoulder. "Now I need your help to make sure the familiar does not stop me or the Labyrinth… Will you help me?"

"Why should I?" asked the disgruntled Swede.

Jareth had to admit the lad had no reason to trust him. "You'll do it for the same reason, Hoggle, and Ludo and Sir Didymus helped Sarah," he sighed; "Because you love her."

"She's not my type," Arnie whispered thinking the King thought there was a romantic connection.

"I didn't think she was…besides… She's spoken for." Jareth crossed his arms. "She belongs to me."

Arnie leaned closer and whispered. "One fairy to another," he jeered. "Don't try that high and mighty act with Sarah… she'll clip your wings."

Seeing the humor in the boy's words Jareth smiled, "I like you," he said as he gently smacked the boy's shoulder. "If you should tire of this world, there will always be a place for you in my realm."

"Me in the Goblin Realm?" Arnie rolled his eyes. "Goblins are not my style…"

"I can think of a few Fae who might be," the King coyly suggested.

Amused and captivated, Arnie shrugged. "What do you want me to do?"

--

The stairs seemed to go on and on, when Sarah reached the landing she was tired, hungry and her feet hurt. She leaned on the frame of an arch and took a breather. Weary she kicked off her shoes with every intention of putting them back on her aching feet. As she rubbed her poor feet, the wall behind her began to shudder, and the air filled with a horrid odor… one that not only rivaled the Bog of Stench but put it to shame. Forgetting her shoes, and moving swiftly into the now open passage before her, Sarah wondered what it was that was roaming about. She worried that Toby would not be safe from the creature, and was glad her parents were safe and sound in the outside world.

The corridor looked vaguely familiar. She knew she was inside her house, but the walls and floor and ceiling had changed. Now it resembled a hilly dale, with dark trees that seemed to sprout out of the walls. She heard rustling of leaves and pulled close to one of the walls or where the wall should be.

"Sarah," a voice called. "Sarah…"

The girl stepped into the open carefully. "Arnie?" she was not sure she believed her eyes.

The Scandinavian move toward her swiftly. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" he hugged her.

"You were asleep on the floor the last time I saw you," she muttered, still not certain it was really her friend.

"Ya, I know… big joke of the Goblin King…" He muttered.

Sarah pulled back, "You know who he is?" her eyes widened.

"Ya sure," Arnie shrugged. "My granny was full of tales of Goblins and Trolls…and the playful mischief they make…"

"Mischief?" Sarah challenged, "This is more than mischief… He's trying to take Toby back…"

"I know," Arnie said. "But there's more here than meets the eye…" he warned. "And you're in danger…. Chuck started this mess…." Arnie warned as he took the girl's arm to lead her deeper into the dale. "He's some kind of programmed spy sent to keep an eye on you by the Seelie Courts…"

"Says who?" She pulled free, and halted in her tracks.

"Says King Jareth…" Arnie scolded. "And I believe him… I saw the worry in his eyes… and it makes sense." The boy frowned. "That Chuck never fit in with us… not once… he's been trouble ever since he showed up… three years ago."

Sarah felt her knees buckle; she landed on the ground as the realization floored her. "He showed up right after… the big storm…"

"Ya, he was a plant…" Arnie hauled her back to her feet. "And he's escaped the confines of the cells that the Fae are holding the rest of our friends in. Only someone with magic could do that."

Rushing for the hall Sarah gasped. "Toby," but Arnie pulled her back. "What are you doing?"

"Stopping you," he scolded. "You cannot rush down the hall screaming…you'll have Chuck on your tail and he'll stop this from playing out… and this has to play out." He explained. "Now, this is as far as you can go by foot… the rest of your journey must be a magical one…" he pulled a peach out of his pocket. "The King said you might not want to see this…" he held the peach out to her.

Sarah backed up a step and shudder as if she were going to be ill. "Get that away from me…"

"Sarah," Arnie held the peach out, "Would I ever hurt you?"

"No," she said still staring at the peach. "No, I don't think you would."

"And you know I'd never betray you," Arnie affirmed.

"I know that," Sarah acknowledged.

"Then trust me when I say, this peach is your ticket to the final ordeal you need to face." Arnie extended his arm.

_**Sarah looked for Hoggle. Perhaps he might have some idea of the time. Hoggle saw her looking back for him, and waiting for him to catch up, and he knew that the time had come. He forced himself to alter his demeanor, switched on a glassy smile, drove his feet into a perky stride, and came swaggering up, good old Hoggle, trusty friend. "Missy," he said, beaming, and held out his hand. **_

_**In it Sarah saw the most luscious peach, so rich and ripe and tantalizingly juicy that it appeared to be glowing. She realized that Ludo was not the only one who was hungry. Oh, kind Hoggle! He must have heard them talking about food. She held her hand out toward the peach. It looked so large and delicious that they could each have a mouthful of it. "Hoggle," she said gratefully, "you're a lifesaver." **_

_**She wondered if she should politely offer the others first bite, but by now it was in her hand, and Hoggle was looking so pleased to have given it to her that she felt it was expected of her to take a bite. She raised it to her lips, then held it away again to look at it. The scent was beautiful. **_

_**Hoggle, fists clenching, glanced up at Ludo and Sir Didymus and saw that they had not stopped, but were a distance away. That was something. **_

_**Sarah looked at the peach almost with regret. It was a pity to spoil such a lovely thing. Although that was the point, wasn't it? A peach made itself lovely just so that someone would spoil it. But if that were the case, it was clever to be repulsive, and rattlesnakes might rule the earth one day. Was that what they had in mind? She bit into the peach. **_

_**The sound of her biting made Hoggle tremble. He wanted to put hishands over his ears. **_

_**Sarah's face was rapt. "This tastes ... so strange." She looked at the peach, and found that her eyes would not focus on it. She began to sway. Feeling that she might be going to faint, she took a step toward Hoggle, for support. She stumbled. With one hand she wiped her brow while, with the other, she held the peach out at arm's length, trying to look at it properly. Then she understood. Slowly, she looked at Hoggle. He was a blurred, shimmering shape. "Hoggle," she said quietly. "What have you done?" **_

_**In a strangled voice, Hoggle cried out, "Damn you, Jareth! And damn me, too!" Turning his face away from Sarah, he ran headlong into the forest. **_

_**Now Sarah was tottering. She managed to stagger to a tree, and leaned against it. She had already forgotten Hoggle and Ludo and Sir Didymus and Toby, and where she was and why. All her thoughts were for Jareth, and her eyes were looking up at the sky. "Everything's dancing," she whispered. **_

Cringing, Sarah was repulsed by the fruit in the boy's hand. The flash of memory nearly sickened her. "Hoggle gave me a peach… it had…it had a worm in it…" she said in a strangled voice.

"This one has no worm," promised Arnie.

Sarah shook her head and felt tears threaten to fall. "I don't want to…" she backed away from the peach.

"Not even to save Toby?" Challenged Arnie; the very mention of the boy drew from Sarah the response that Jareth had said it would. He held the fruit out and the girl took it from his hand.

"For Toby," she closed her eyes, sinking her teeth firmly into the sweet juicy flesh of the peach. Juice covered her lips as she ripped into the fruit and began to chew the soft tender inner flesh. Instantly she felt the world turn, "I remember this," she found herself going limp and staggered to brace herself on a tree. "Everything….dancing…"

Arnie came to her side and guided her to sit. "Don't fight it, Sarah." He warned. "Let the magic do its thing…"

"Everything… dancing…" she sighed. Raising one hand to point haphazardly at a bubble that was coming toward her; "Bubbles… I remember… bubbles…"

Arnie moved back as the floating object approached, he had done his part. Sarah had eaten again from enchanted fruit, and he had kept her on the path. He watched as the bubble floated in front of her face. He heard the movement and saw Chuck coming rushing toward them, without thinking of himself he dove at the rampaging young man and tackled him. Chuck roared like a rogue elephant as the smaller young man knocked the pins out from under him. Chuck reached out a hand, determined to burst the bubble as it approached Sarah only to find that the girl and the bubble had vanished while Arnie had tackled him.

"You fool!" he roared at Arnie.

"You traitor!" spat the Scandinavian.

--

Within the bubble Sarah heard music; she had heard this tune before and felt it was calling her closer. She half expected to find herself in a long white sugary confection of a dress. Instead she found herself in a tightly fitted bodice of turquoise brushed satin. It was off the shoulders, revealing the creaming color of her skin and the soft feminine shape she'd grown into over the last three years. The skirt was of the same material and unlike the crinoline skirt of the other gown, moved with a long draping sweep. Sarah moved inside the bubble and found the gown moved with her far more dramatically than the dress she'd worn on her last visit. She looked out of the bubble and expected to see other floating orbs…


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12. Dancing the King's tune**

_**Sarah's body swayed hypnotically in time with the music. She was the music and the dance. She was inside a bubble, dancing, dressed in a ball gown. Enchanted and enchanting, she danced slowly across the sky in company with the other dancers. A congregation of many bubbles crossed the night sky, each with a dancer within it. They were approaching one great bubble, as though attracted by some magnetic force. Inside the great bubble was a magnificent ballroom. Jareth was already dancing there. **_

The flash of memory disturbed Sarah, more than the other memory flashes. She looked to the skies, expecting to see the other orbs filled with dancers in costumes and masks. However the sky was empty, only her bubble was afloat on the night air. And instead of a great bubble with a magnificent ballroom she was headed for something that looked like the Hindenburg when it had begun to burn. It was a ruin of some kind, darkened and damaged and falling apart. Sarah wondered what it was, and then knew… this was what remained of the ballroom

_**The ballroom had known opulence. Between glittering cornices were hung many long chandeliers where the wax, dripping for a hundred years, had formed stalactites. The silk covering of the walls had faded and, in places, worn threadbare. Bubbles decorated the room, and the whole of it was contained within the iridescent skin of one great bubble. A tall, gilt, thirteen-hour clock stood in a corner. It was almost twelve o'clock. **_

The room was a shambles of its stately self. The threadbare silk coverings now hung in tatters and some had even been torn down by the force of Sarah's blow to the outer skin of what had been the bubble floating in the night. The tall gilt thirteen hour clock had shattered and was lying on the floor with the faceplate facing upward on a tilt. The chandeliers were void of light as all the candles seemed to have fallen out. Sarah stepped carefully into the space as her own bubble collided with and became part of the once great bubble.

Remorse filled her, she was only having flashes of memory but those flashes were enough to remind her of the opulence that this place held. And the music; His music, miss now as were the dancers who had populated the space. Moving past the entry Sarah feared walking; until she looked down to see soft Kidd dancing slippers on her once bare feet. She moved further into the shadowy space.

_**Sarah watched the dance and the dancers watched her, from behind their masks. The men sported silken shirts open to the waist and tight velvet breeches. Some of them wore wide-brimmed, plumed hats; others had capes or carried staffs. The women's gowns left their shoulders bare and dove low between their breasts. They had their hair coiffed high, and many wore long gloves. The dancers moved in a ring around the ballroom, with a kind of lethargic brilliance, as though the party had been going on all night. Men who were not dancing lounged indolently against the columns, or in a cushioned pit in the center of the ballroom, in the company of women. Maids and footmen, with skin the color of old parchment, served them trays of fruit and refilled their goblets from decanters. And always the dancers were watching through the eyeholes in their cruel half-masks, from which snouts projected and horns sprouted above. Moving together or elegantly reclined, they watched Sarah, or watched each other watching, and beneath the masks the mouths smiled at each other like knives. **_

She had been afraid of the others in the ballroom that night, finding them vulgar.. And some were crude… still others were dangerous… Sarah had been young, and innocent that night but not stupid. She had known full well what had been going on in that ballroom. She had been embarrassed by the sights, the sounds and the… smells…. There was no escaping the odor that had filled the room… it went beyond the perfume the other women wore.

She had been the picture of innocence, a virgin in a white gown… a sacrifice? She wondered now, but didn't care. She could still feel the eyes watching her, and their excitement. And it filled her with dread.

_**She walked slowly around the room. Two gorgeously gowned women snickered behind their fans at her. Sarah paused beside a tall mirror and looked at her image**_

_**The people passing behind her, in the mirror, were watching her like ravishing birds of prey. The dancers swayed and swirled. Then Sarah saw something in the mirror that made her gasp. **_

_**Behind her she saw Jareth, standing alone. He was a resplendent figure, upright and blond, in a midnight blue frock coat, diamante at the neck, shoulders, and cuffs. Ruffs of pale gray silk at his throat and wrists set off the pallor of his skin. On his legs he was wearing black tights and black, shiny boots. He was holding a horned mask on a stick, but he had lowered it now, to look straight at Sarah in the mirror. Sarah turned to see nothing behind her but She had caught a glimpse of Jareth, entwined with a voluptuous woman, dancing past. **_

_**She whirled around, but he had vanished. She stood there, peering through the throng for him so intently that she did not notice the young man leaning against the column beside her. He had his head held back and was staring brazenly at her. He relished her face, then her white shoulders, her breasts, hips, and legs, and moved closer to her. He murmured into her ear, "You are remarkably beautiful, my dear girl." **_

_**Sarah spun around to face him, her mouth open. At the mixture of surprise and pleasure on her face, the young man threw back his head and laughed. She smiled back at him nervously. **_

_**Hidden behind another man's cape, Jareth had watched it all, but Sarah had not seen him watching. His eyes were following Sarah wherever she went in the corrupt ballroom. **_

_**She was tense now, self-conscious, among people she could not understand but who behaved as though they knew something that she didn't know. She moved hurriedly around the ballroom looking for Jareth. She did not know why she wanted to find him, or what she would say to him. She just knew that it was vitally important that she should find him. When she saw him, he was whispering something to his beautiful partner, who responded by smiling knowingly from beneath her mask and licking her lips, slowly, with the tip of her tongue. **_

_**Sarah blushed and turned away in embarrassment. She found herself looking into another of the tall mirrors around the room. Behind her she saw Jareth, standing alone. Behind him, dancers were whirling. He held his hand out. **_

On the floor of what was left in the ruins were masks worn that night. A box with a broken lid and what looked like a chicken's head stuck out of it. Sarah was repulsed and remembered the jaunts and jeers from other dancers as she walked through the room looking for Jareth. It had been a sick game, a game of hid and seek and she had been led a merry chase. She retraced her steps, not sure if it was out of memory or out of the way this room had been set up. There seemed only one direction in which to go.

Stepping carefully over the rubbish that now covered the floor she moved to the next layer down. The crystal bobbles that remained dangled decoratively from the chandeliers and tinkled on the light breeze that was following Sarah. The soft sounds made a strange sort of music, replacing the haunting tune that had played that night. Sarah followed the sound and went down another level.

Jareth had been following her, watching just as he had that night long ago. She was as unaware now as she had been then. Looking but not seeing, seeking and not finding. He waited, knowing she'd reach the mirror soon enough.

Sarah passed the place where she'd gotten a glimpse of him, holding a horned mask. She looked down to find the mask discarded and lying among the rubble. She knelt down and picked it up, aware of the tingle in her fingers as they connected with the wooden rod that was attacked to the mask.

Jareth watched her kneel, watched her fingers moved sheepishly to take hold of his mask. His face was schooled, neither smiling, nor frowning.

Sarah placed the mask to her heart and closed her eyes. The memories were coming faster now, and more easily. The throbbing pain had almost ceased to exist. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into the very mirror she'd been staring into that night. How different it all seemed. She stood up and moved on, there was no crowd to pass through and her journey was much less exciting. She moved down to the next level and across what looked like a bridge from one section of the ballroom to the other, beneath her was the pit where men and women had been lounging and… Sarah looked away from that sight just as she had the first time. She looked to where she had watched men and women dance past her. Where she'd seen Jareth between two women, who had been fawning over him, a shadowy figure stood in the spot.

_**Jareth, standing alone; He was a resplendent figure, upright and blond, in a midnight blue frock coat, diamante at the neck, shoulders, and cuffs. Ruffs of pale gray silk at his throat and wrists set off the pallor of his skin. On his legs he was wearing black tights and black, shiny boots.**_

Coming forward slowly, Sarah could see he was no longer in the handsome and dramatic blue frock coat. It had been replaced by an Edwardian styled brushed velvet coat in the same midnight blue. Gone were the gray silk shirt, the diamante, and the pale ruffled cuffs. Now he wore a soft blue that made his fair complexion seem warmer, more alive and less like china. His breeches were replaced by long black stovepipe pants that were fitted into black boots reaching his knee. If anything, he was more handsome and less intimidating than the wild figure she'd danced with three years ago. His hair was softer, shorter and tamer, his eyes told her was not.

"I've been waiting for you," he said as his hand moved to her waist.

Quivering Sarah whispered. "There's no music…"

"We'll make our own," he assured her as he swept her into the same steps as he'd swept her before. "You see Sarah, we fit…"

"Do we?" she asked feeling ashamed that she was enjoying this moment.

The hand that was at the small of her back slid a fraction lower. "I assure you, we do."

"Why are you doing this?" she lowered her eyes, unable to meet his gaze. "Why bring me back here… to this ruin…"

"You ruined the ballroom… you left me in the middle of our dance… perhaps I brought you here to finish the dance." His voice was cold, stiff and formal.

Looking over her shoulder she winced seeing the devastation she'd left in her wake. "I never meant to destroy your pretty ballroom…"

The hand holding her back flattened. "Didn't you?" His voice was harsh.

"No," she refused to look at him. He stopped dancing; her body was close and warm. He dropped her hand, also dropping the hand on the flat of her back. His right hand moved to her chin and tilted it up, demanding without a word that she face him. Look him in the eyes. "Your eyes are so cruel," she whispered.

"Are they?" He whispered moving even closer and tipping his head to one side. "Should they not be?" He gazed at her; letting her see all the disappointment and hurt he'd been feeling. "Everything I did… was for you."

"I know," she sighed.

"I moved the stars…"

"I know,"

"I allowed you to play out your hearts desire… to be a heroine…" he growled.

"I know," she agreed looking into his eyes with remorse and guilt.

"Can you think of one reason I should not be cruel?" he demanded.

"No," she whispered.

"You broke my heart," he said with the last of his bitterness.

"I never meant to…" she reasoned gently. "I only meant to save Toby… I never meant it when I wished him away… I had to correct…my misspoken words."

"I did everything you asked…" he breathed; "And more."

"Yes," she nodded still keeping her eyes locked to his. "You did."

"Was I so unpleasant to dance with?" his words filled with sorrow, and pain. "Was I so horrible?"

"No," she lamented. "You were… but the room… those people…" she gulped. "Didn't you know how that would… look to a child?"

"I didn't and never have seen you as a child," his fingers began to stroke her chin. "I see a woman…."

"I wasn't," she lamented. "I was a little girl playing dress up."

"And now?" he challenged.

"Now?" her voice dropped an octave. "Now I see what I did… to Toby… To you… to the Labyrinth…"

"Fix it," he ordered sharply.

Sarah looked at him, his eyes demanding, his lips quivering and his breathing slowed. "I wish I could…"

As the words left her lips his descended and brushed against her taking her breath away. Her hands moved to his chest, not to push him away but to connect. His free hand moved to cradle her back as the hand at her chin took hold of her throat and held her from fleeing if she'd had a mind to. She didn't. His jaw forced her mouth to open and his tongue move into the warm moist opening. He tasted her, and deepened the kiss. If she were not his before, she was his now. He pulled back, and softly commanded her. "Open your eyes, Sarah."

Long dark lashes fluttered open, and she took a surprised breath. The ballroom was no longer a ruin, nor was it the faded room of opulence from three years ago. Now it was a shiny globe full of beauty and joy. Jareth smiled down to reassure her, but something filled her with pain. "Toby," she moaned as she placed her head on his shoulder. "Oh Toby…"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13. Truce**

Jareth held her for a moment unwilling to speak, until he heard her weep thinking she'd lost her baby brother. "I shall offer you a truce, this once." He whispered. Sarah moved her head on his shoulder to look at him. "Give me what I came for originally, and I shall allow your brother to live with his parents…"

"What you came for?" Sarah questioned. "Didn't you come for … Toby?"

"No," he teased.

"Then… what…" she blinked.

"More, who…" he suddenly sounded like the owl.

"Who;" she repeated softly.

Jareth groaned, as if answering a mating call he tipped her face up to his and kissed her again. This time the kiss was demanding and receiving an answer. Jareth had to reign in his emotions and his scorching desires. He took a deep breath, "Take my offer…" he cautioned. "I don't usually make offers twice, Sarah."

"You offered me my dreams once," she whispered.

"That I did," he admitted. "You refused."

"They cost too much," her lashes veiled her eyes. "I accept your…generous offer…"

"And you'll come away with me, no arguments?" He asked temptingly.

"I can't say I won't argue… but I will come away with you…" she lowered her face, feeling a blush coming on. "I'll do whatever you ask…as long as you leave Toby here…"

"Whatever?" he growled knowing it would excite and embarrass her. He watched the color rise on her cheeks and he kissed her brow. "I promise you, Sarah, it won't be bad…you'll enjoy being in my castle… being waited on hand and foot…"

"If you say so…" she didn't seem convinced. "But I think you should know… I'm…"

"An innocent?" He teased tipping her face up so she had to look him in the eye. "I know… I look forward to our wedding night."

"Wedding night?" she yelped softly.

He smiled the same cocky haughty smile he'd given her when he appeared in the nursery. "Of course," he feigned offence. "You didn't expect me to just plunder you did you... Sarah I'm a King, not a pirate."

"You want to marry me?" she asked still not clear.

"In spite of the trouble you've caused me, yes… I want to marry you." He touched her face tenderly. "You will make a fine queen once you grow up."

She looked at the ballroom; it was still empty; they were still the only occupants. "Is the Labyrinth appeased?"

"She seems to be…." He offered her his arm. "I suggest we move though the portal…"

"Wait," she cried out. "My friends… Arnie said…."

"Hush," he put a now naked hand to her lips. "I didn't say we were going to the Underground… we've some unfinished business in your realm." He looked contented, peacefully complete. Once more he offered his arm, this time she took it without reservations.

--

Odell looked at the mesmerized mortals, seated around the parlor. The glamour had vanished, the house was returning to its normal nature. He and the other Fae Lords busied themselves getting the mortals back into the places they'd been seated before the enchantment had begun. Odell, pointed to where Jareth and Sarah were entering the foyer from the portal. "They're back," he said.

Jareth looked at the assembled mortals, "And my quiet Paladin?" he asked.

Merck motioned to the upper floors as a commotion was overheard. "He's still keeping the High King's familiar busy…"

"I'd best go give him a hand," Jareth raised Sarah's hand and kissed it. "Stay here, Odell and Merck and Rafe will protect you from any harm…"

"What harm can befall me now? I thought we appeased the Labyrinth…" Sarah questioned with trepidation.

Odell moved to her side, "Fear not, Jareth, I'll personally keep your posy from being wilted."

Rolling his eyes, the Goblin King turned and moved toward the stairs but changed his mind and used his restored powers to transport himself to the upper floor. Sarah looked at Odell who smiled sweetly and winked at her. Merck moved back to the piano muttering something about Time not having been restored.

--

In the tunnels of the Labyrinth the Lady Alexandraya watched and kept record of the events. Something in her heart told her that the High Courts were not going to be very forgiving of the Goblin King's actions. To protect him, the crown and the Kingdom she took it upon herself to keep a record. Carefully the woman kept the records of what spells had been used, and by whom.

She pulled scroll after scroll and frowned, time should have been restored. The Labyrinth was appeased, and the King and his consort were in accord, and time should have reverted to mortal standard. Alexandraya saw the hand of the High King in this, and frowned.

--

Arnie wrestled with the larger boy, keeping him off balance and occupied. Jareth appeared in the hall dressed once more in the stylish garments of the British Rocker he was portraying. "Cease!" he ordered sharply and the pair terminated the altercation.

Chuck glared at the Goblin King with angry eyes. "The High King will hear of this," he growled threateningly.

Jareth took a Kingly stance, looking down his nose at the familiar with disdain. "I'm sure he already has." His manner told the creature he was displeased with his interference. He looked at Arnie who was looking a bit battered. "Are you injured?" The boy shook his head, keeping still. Jareth motioned him to stand, and he waved his hand and the torn garments he was wearing were instantly repaired, as if the fight had never occurred. Jareth motioned both young men to follow him back down the stairs.

--

Sarah turned toward the stairs in the foyer, hearing footfalls. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Arnie coming down. Chuck scowled at her, and she was taken aback. "What have I ever done to you to deserve the way you're treating me?" She asked as Jareth brought them into the parlor.

"Answer her," Jareth commanded.

The Familiar sneered. "I answer only one master, and you are not he."

Jareth turned to Odell, "Go to Perrin, have him bring the child back down," he instructed. Moving toward Sarah he extended his hands, "I'm afraid you're about to receive more… guests my dear."

"Bring em on…" she mused.

Perrin, carrying Toby returned to the parlor along with Odell. Gently he relinquished Toby to the careful care of the Goblin King. Jareth held the boy tenderly and then looked over at the girl. "I will allow him to live here with his parents, for as long as it is possible… when he is older, he will have to choose how to live… but the doors of our Kingdom will always be open to him." He promised the green eyed young woman.

"Free with your promises," the Familiar sneered. He waved a hand at the rest of the teens, still in enchanted states. "What will you do with them; give them all places of minions? Make them your playthings?"

Jareth took a seat, holding the sleeping child close to his heart. "Free with your insults are you not?" He settled back and looked at the familiar that was still disguised as a mortal boy. "You forget your station, and mine."

"Station?" mocked Chuck as he approached the Goblin King. "You are nothing…. And the High King will lower you still further…."

"Ah yes," murmured Jareth in a melodic tone. "The High King…." He smiled a wickedly delighted smile, he was preparing to say something when a portal appeared showing the concerned face of the Lady Alexandraya.

"Sire, say not another word!" she cautioned.

Skulking, the familiar's face puckered up as the image appeared. "You keep company with traitors."

Sarah looked at the image of the woman; she could not find it in her heart to be weary of the sad faced Fae woman. "Who is she?" she quietly questioned Jareth.

"The Lady Alexandraya," the King whispered back. "One of the exiles of the High Court…my court is full of exiles…." He then addressed Alexandraya, "Perhaps you'd best come here….."

"I cannot," she held up one hand. "The house is no longer in the mists… and I would wither and die…" She glared at the familiar, "That one's presence is keeping the house from returning fully to mortal standard time. Keep your mortal aides in their enchantments." She held up a scroll. "I'm looking for the answers to the problems even now, Sire." Her sad, but beautiful eyes moved to Sarah. "I'm very happy for you, Lady Sarah…." The image vanished.

--

Sarah knelt down beside the chair that the Goblin King was seated in. "She's so sad," she whispered.

"Hers is not an easy existence," Jareth admitted quietly. "She refused to be put into a compromising position…. Before the High King heard her side of the tale, he took the side of a Fae Lord whose scruples could be questioned…. He banished her from the Fairy Lands… and also from the mortal realm… She asked for sanctuary from the Goblin Throne, and received it…however she cannot leave Goblin Soil… in fact she's safest only when in the caverns below the Kingdom…. There's a deep magic there that keeps her alive, a deeper magic than even that used by Oberon."

"What was she accused of?" Sarah asked.

"The crime she was accused of was treachery against the Seelie Court… however her real crime if you want to call it thus was of knowing too many spells." He explained. "She knows more spells than perhaps any other Fae, including the High King… and she also knows the counter spells… The High King banished her before he learned the truth… and being a proud man, refused to even consider rescinding his… banishment, or admitting he had been duped."

"How sad for her," Sarah commiserated.

Perrin nodded, "She was once one of the Ladies of the High Queen's private court." He took his seat. "Now she never sees light of day, but lives in the bowels of the Labyrinth…"

"And can the Labyrinth not… help her?" Sarah placed a hand on Jareth's knee.

"It keeps her alive," He countered. "Is that not help?"

Merck looked at the compassion on Sarah's face and mused. "I can see why the Labyrinth is drawn to you Lady Sarah… you have a heart."

"I have a heart," Jareth defended himself. "Did I not grant her and countless others sanctuary when the purge occurred?" The Fae Lords murmured among themselves and Jareth looked at Sarah. "Some time ago, a few of the High Courts, Seelie and UnSeelie began to… question the purity of some of the Fae Folk… those who were found to be…not entirely Fae were subjected to banishment… without… the High King's consent."

"I see," Sarah sighed. "Not much better than mortals were they?"

"Not nearly as good as some mortals," Jareth countered remembering the dark days. "I was already the Goblin King, and when the fugitives began to come to us… we could have turned them away… other Kingdoms had… But I could not see turning them away because they could not pass a stupid purity test." He stood up, placing the still sleeping child on the seat.

"He opened the Kingdom to the Fugitives…" Odell interjected with a snort, "Thumbing his nose at the members of the High Courts who had looked down upon him." There was a sense of rebellious pride in Odell's tone as he spoke of Jareth's deed.

Sarah looked over at Jareth, "Did you open the gates for them out of compassion, or spite?"

"Both," Jareth mused honestly. "You will understand once you are Queen…"

"She will never be a Queen," Chuck growled. "She's nothing but human scum."

Sarah looked at the young man who'd been a companion and sighed. "You never liked me…why?"

"Answer her," commanded Jareth powerfully.

Chuck took a staggering step toward her. "Your kind polluted this world… it was once a place where magic thrived… where creatures of the fabric roamed free… but now... look at it…it dies, festering in the filth your kind has wrought."

Feeling more threatened than she had ever felt in the Labyrinth, she drew back. Jareth placed a hand over her shoulder and she looked at him with concern. She pulled herself up, turning she glared right back at the familiar. "I will not sit here and answer for all of mankind… I am but one person…what did I ever do to you, me… not my kind… me." Her tone was that of one who demanded respect.

Jareth smirked, knowing his counterpart was something no one had expected. Sarah may have been born mortal, but she was never ordinary. One thing Jareth knew, Oberon's familiar would pay a heavy price for having underestimated the girl. Confident that Sarah had the power to take on this brute, Jareth stood behind her waiting for the fool to answer her demand.

Chuck's face was losing some of the mortal glamour it had worn. His eyes were no longer merely spiteful and malevolent, now they were turning feral. "You are only a human, and I don't answer to mortals! Not even to the ones this misbegotten King denies are worthy…."

Sarah felt the hand on her shoulder tighten its gentle grip. "How dare you call him misbegotten," she spat at the being she'd once considered a friendly acquaintance. "I'm sure in the hierarchy of ethereal, he's got you beat." The grip loosened, but remained firmly planted. She turned her head slightly, looking up at the profile of the man standing behind her. "I think I'm beginning to understand…" she murmured to him.

Jareth allowed the corner of his lips to rise in a gentle smile. "I thought you might…" He murmured back without looking at her.

Odell snickered to Perrin, "I'll bet the old man is going to get his knickers in a bunch…"

Perrin snorted, but didn't answer, fearing the walls having ears.

Merck moved to stand beside the King, "We're being watched," he whispered in warning.

"I'm counting on it," Jareth confided to his companion. "But let us give the familiar enough rope to hang itself."

Oblivious to the whispers, Chuck continued to glare at the girl upon whose slender shoulder the King had placed his hand. "What would you know of the caste? You, a mere mortal who wished away her own brother…oh yes, Sarah Williams… I know all about you." His glamour fell away and before her stood a creature that resembled the misguided Calibos of the myths. All his handsome features twisted, revealing he was nothing human at all. He sprouted horns and a tail; and his skin became rough, brown and hairy. "I know how you out of guilt accepted the challenge to run the Goblin Labyrinth…" his lips snarled and his eyes flashed hate. "How you then used your mortal wiles to trick inhabitants of that kingdom into doing your bidding…"

Jareth looked toward the staircase, upward to where it rose to the highest level of the house, the attic where two of his subjects were suspended. He whispered the spell of release, and heard the commotion as they burst their restraints. He knew that Chuck was too engaged in his verbal attack to notice. "Sir Didymus," he called to the knight, "Sarah needs you…now..."

The attic door burst open; a wild charge was sounded as the little knight bounded forward with his saber in his hand. He was followed down the stairs by a gnomish dwarf. Both came charging down the stairs and into the parlor. Sarah while pleased to see them wondered how they had gotten free of the entrapment Jareth had caught them up in. Seeing the curve of his lips, she understood. He was no fool, and Chuck had underestimated him.

Sir Didymus waved his saber wildly at the familiar, "Back you vile creature, back I say…" he stood between Chuck and Sarah. "Thou shall not touch my lady!"

Hoggle snarled at the familiar. "So this is the contemptible creature the High King calls upon to do his snooping!" He too had placed himself between Sarah and the familiar. "Keep your dirty familiar hands off our Sarah!"

The creature that had once been known as Chuck laughed cruelly at the pair. "Misbegotten little maggots... go back to your Goblin roost."

"Under the Seelie laws," Jareth interjected in a bored tone, "They are on Goblin soil… you however are not welcome…" He moved his hand from the girl's shoulder to her forearm and drew her closer to his side. "We bid you be gone..." He looked at Sarah, expectantly.

Sarah caught his hint and looked at the ugly thing standing before her; "Be gone," she said dismissively with a wave of her hand. Mist, glitter and a whirlwind surrounded the surprised creature, in a cry of pain his figure vanished from the living room. Sarah looked at where her friends were seated, all still in a daze. "Will they remember?"

"Some," Jareth said with a note of sadness. "I cannot erase their total memories, nor would I wish to." He too was looking at the companions of his soon to be Queen, mostly his eyes rested on Ronnie's sad face. "Alas she will have to remember, it will be important for her to remember."

"At least she has classes in a college away from here to look forward to." Sarah sighed.

"Incoming," Odell warned as darkness descended into the room. Suddenly the entry way between the parlor where the Labyrinth Lords, King and his chosen Queen stood along with the mortals, was overflowing with members of a Fae court. All were dressed as if they'd been interrupted in some kind of social gathering revelry. At the forefront of the group stood a tall and imposingly extraordinary man with eyes that were full of anger and annoyance.

Sarah felt the hand on her forearm tighten, but noticed that the Fae Goblin King didn't allow his schooled features to waver. One looking at Jareth would think he was about to address a fan or a roadie. Remembering what her mother had once told her, Sarah schooled her features to match her King's.

"Ah Oberon," Jareth greeted the High King of the Fae. "Come to pick up the mess left behind by your lap dog?"

Oberon didn't appear to be amused, not by the remark, nor by the fact that the Goblin King had outsmarted him. "You are out of your jurisdiction, are you not, Goblin King?"

"No," Jareth replied with confidence. "This house and its occupants belong to me."

Moving forward, his great robes flowing and rustling in his wake, Oberon frowned. "How so;" his voice was anger but intrigued, as he looked at the younger Fae with fascination. "I know that this she-creature managed to beguile her way through your labyrinth web. Using feminine wiles to beguile and bewitch your subjects into doing her bidding, and helping her to win back the child she had so carelessly wished away." His tone toward Sarah was none too friendly; in fact, it was dismissive and indifferent and downright rude in its curtness. "So how do you manage to now claim the house and its inhabitants?"

Jareth smiled charmingly at the High King, "I fed the baby and the girl during their visit, a bit of Goblin Hospitality," he mused.

Oberon turned to one of his courtiers, "Is this true?" His roar shook the house.

"I know not," confessed the one who had been spying on the Goblin King.

Clearing his throat politely, Jareth murmured softly. "Ask the girl." Sarah took a deep breath, preparing for the question. She looked up at the High King, waiting. Jareth flexed his fingers, letting her know he was not going to relinquish her no matter what.

Oberon observed the Goblin King's face, his countenance and his self-confidence. He had seen poise; he had seen self-reliance in the boy before. However this was the first time he'd seen self-assurance and conviction. "I don't need to ask your little mortal posy…." Muttered the High King in disgust as he addressed Jareth; "How your defiance managed to slip the notice of my…"

"Spy," suggested the smug Goblin King.

"Emissary," the older Fae rambled, ignoring the Goblin's slur. "I will never know." He cast a disappointed gaze toward his courtiers. "However, you did violate one of my rules… and as such…"

"Before you go making decrees that can't be measured out," Jareth interrupted swiftly; "You'd best take a look at both the girl and her brother…" he warned.

Oberon, not liking being dictated to any more than he enjoyed being defied, cast a sideways glace at the child sleeping on the chair that Jareth had vacated. Even at ten paces away the transformation was clear to see. Looking at the girl, the changes were more subtle but present. "Changelings," muttered the High King in resolution; "Past the point of reversal." His words drew a startled gasp and utterances of despair as well as utterances of revulsion and disgust. He could sense his court pulling back so not to be sullied by the nearness of the changelings.

"This house will always be goblin territory," Jareth announced looking with disdain at the members of the High court. "All who dwell here are under my protection, now and forever more." Behind the High King his Queen, her champions, gathered the Fairtones. The pride on their smug faces told the opposing court that they were honored to stand at the side of the Goblin King even in the face of the High Courts.

Oberon sighed, "You've won this battle Jareth… not fairly perhaps, but your guile will not be held against you." He looked at Sarah, softening his expression. "I remember how bewitching a mortal woman can be," he lamented in a gentler tone before turning his attention back to the Goblin King. "The house, its occupants and its future are in your keeping." He conceded.

Jareth gave the High King a curt bow, "I will protect them."

Oberon raised a brow, "What I don't understand is why," he questioned the younger Fae. "Why make the house part of your Kingdom."

Looking over at the child who slept the peaceful sleep of the innocent, Jareth whispered softly. "For the boy," He smiled softly; "So that he may grow up here, in this realm under the care of his parents." He then turned his loving gaze upon the face of his soon to be Queen. "For his sister's triumph should not be overturned, nor overlooked. She won him back, and I will not allow even my own pridefulness to take that from her."

Sarah blushed slightly under the gaze, Oberon observed. He looked at the gathered Lords behind the Goblin royal couple. "And you all concur?"

Perrin spoke for the four Fairtones. "We do," his voice drew gasps of disapproval from the Fae court behind the High King. Perrin cast them a look of disgust, matched by the other Goblin Fae Lords.

"So mote it be," decreed the disgruntled High King. "So let it be written." Swiftly he turned. "I leave this to you than, Goblin King… it is in your hands now." He moved back to his court, with a wave of his hand he and the Seelie Court members vanished.

"Someone's nose is out of joint," muttered Odell darkly.

Jareth nodded, "And we are not out of the woods yet…." He warned.

Perrin motioned for Merck to take his seat at the piano, before moving to take a seat beside the still dazed Ronnie. "Odell, take a seat." He called to the youngest Fae Lord. He smiled at Sarah. "My Lady, I suggest you find a nice seat as well, the King is about to work magic… this should amuse you."

Jareth snickered as he released Sarah's arm and moved to where Toby was still sleeping. Gathering the child up in his arms, he resumed his seat. "Sir Didymus, if you don't mind…." He motioned the little knight to take up his position in the boys arm.

"With pleasure my king," Didymus stated in a delighted voice as he scrambled over to where the king sat with the child.

Hoggle tapped his foot, "And I suspect you expect me to just vacate…" he muttered.

"Not at all," Jareth announced softly, "I would prefer you to join your knightly companion in protecting my… family."

"Family?" Sarah questioned suspiciously.

"Indeed," Jareth patted the arm of the chair in beckoning to her. Once she'd taken a seat his slid his free arm about her waist. "After all, once we are wed, your little brother will be mine as well."

"Not exactly," she disagreed.

"Close enough," Jareth teased, and looked at the gathered group. Content that the mortals were safe, he bid took a hesitant breath, and felt time resume its correct measures. "Brace your-self, my love," he cautioned Sarah. "Your parents are about to arrive…"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14. Resolutions and declarations**

Sarah had a quizzical look on her face, but noticed that the house seemed to be feeling settled. She listened to the music that was coming from the Spinet under the graceful fingers of the Fae Lord Merck. His fingers gliding over the ivory keys gently, she allowed herself a quick glance at her friends, now minus Chuck. Ronnie sat with a dazed gleam in her eye as Perrin held her hand. Leeanne and Mike were listening in rapt pleasure, and Ruth alongside Johnny seemed unusually peaceful.

Jareth tucked Toby close with the arm that was wound about the sleeping child. His other arm was wound about the waist of his Sarah. He took a breath and began to speak as if he'd been telling a story; "Having traveled the hazards of the unknown, enduring hardships unnumbered and conquering all including the king, the beautiful maiden came at last to the steps of the castle…" The door opened, Robert and Karen came rushing in as yet another thunderous bolt of light came crashing into the ground near the Victorian. Jareth halted his tale and Merck stopped playing the notes of the classical piece.

The teens protested, as Sarah's parents came into the parlor looking most bewildered. Leeanne moaned. "Don't stop! You've taken us this far, you can't stop there!"

Robert, dripping water all over Karen's precious floors gasped. "Who are all you people?"

Sarah rose from the arm of Jareth's chair, racing to the mud room to grab towels for her parents. "Daddy, you're dripping," she admonished her father.

Ripping the towel offered from his daughter's hand he growled. "Who are these people and why didn't you answer the phone?" Robert demanded harshly.

Karen was at the phone and holding the receiver out cleared her throat. "Dead line, Robert… that tree must have taken the lines out when it went down." She replaced the phone on the cradle and then accepted the towel Sarah had brought to her. "Thank you Sarah," she said working to dry off quickly. "Was anyone hurt when the tree hit that van, do you know?"

"Startled," Jareth spoke up in a warmed honey tone; "Nevertheless not injured."

"Except the van is totaled," Odell with a smile mused.

Robert looked at Sarah, expecting her to fill in the blanks, which she did. "We made it home from the concert just before the storm broke. The gang came over, and we were going to watch an old movie… but the lights went out and while we were panicking trying to get the candles out Mr. King and his band came knocking on our door." She related the tale as she now saw it had to be told, not what had actually happened because no one else would recall it that way. "Daddy, this is Jareth King, of J.G. King and the Fairtones…. These are the Fairtones. Odell," she pointed to the fair haired Fae who was closest; "And Merck and Rafe, and last but not least…Perrin." She smiled coyly to her father. "You know my friends…"

"Your daughter has been a life saver," Jareth stated seated with the sleeping Toby in his arms. "Seen to our comforts and needs like a truly gifted hostess."

Robert frowned at the man seated a little too comfortably in his favorite chair cuddling Roberet's son as if the child belonged to him. Jareth looked at the father with a sheepish grin. "I see," Robert's tone was inhospitable and stark.

Karen shot him a warning look, before she turned to Jareth in the chair holding her little boy. "He must be getting heavy."

"Not at all," the Goblin King made no effort to rise or to relinquish the boy. "He fell asleep while I was telling a spooky old tale to these young people…I should hate to disturb him just now."

Merck turned on the piano bench, looked at Karen with a considerate smile. "Your Spinet is in perfect tune, I complement you on its care."

Karen blushed, "Thank you… you … play well," she hesitated at returning the complement to the stranger. "Wasn't that Grieg you were playing?"

"Yes," Merck admitted slyly. "My own arrangement of course, but it was Grieg. You know your classics."

Robert, feeling more disturbed turned to Sarah. "You just invited a bunch of strangers into the house?"

"Daddy," Sarah replied calmly, and a bit embarrassed. "Your tree destroyed their van."

Toby stirred, looked up at Jareth smiled and placed his head back on the King's chest. Jareth observed the uneasiness and anxiety that Robert was experiencing, and chose to put the man's mind at ease. "I must say," he addressed the troubled man directly. "You've a wonderful home. You're daughter was very kind to take pity on us." He shifted Toby's weight slightly. "And we are not exactly strangers…"

"Sarah was on stage with them tonight," Leeanne stated.

"Actually," Jareth remarked rather coyly. "Sarah and I have met before… briefly… about three years ago."

"Indeed?" Robert moved into the parlor, now that his wet coat had been removed. "I don't recall her ever mentioning you…." He folded his arms, looked at his daughter and wordlessly demanded a statement of concurrence from her own lips as to the man's statement.

Jareth preferred to keep the ball in his court however. "Yes, well she was a bit younger than… fifteen as I recall… And while I found her charming she was as you Yanks say… Jail bait." He could feel Sarah's temperature rise and the color form on her cheeks. "I doubt she really remembered our meeting… her life was a bit of a whirlwind back then and she was in the company of actors and actresses who had far more fame than we had at the time."

Robert seemed to mull over some thought. "Ah I see," his harshness was softening slightly.

"Although I didn't make much of an impression on her, she made one on me… Imagine my surprise when the winner of the drawing tonight was none other than the very girl I've been looking for." Jareth smirked.

"I wouldn't say you didn't make an impression…" Sarah whispered softly. "However, I was only fifteen at the time."

"You're not fifteen now," Jareth teased suggestively.

Clearing his throat, Robert looked about the room of young people and musicians. The candles glowing and the fireplace well light gave the room an atmosphere of magical proportions. "Well, I can understand her asking your band to come in out of the storm…." He acquiesced. "Soon as the lines are back up, and the storm has cleared, we'll have a tow truck come for your van."

"Of course," Jareth agreed. He stood up. "Perhaps we should get this one off to bed now. I'm sure he'll sleep soundly knowing his parents are home again." He handed Toby over to Robert gently. "He's a very sweet child. I envy you…" His voice was full of emotions he had kept a guard upon.

Taking the boy, Robert felt an urge to order the man from his home, but knew he could not. "I'm blessed in both my children," he said thinking it was the proper thing to say.

Jareth looked over at Sarah who was standing beside her stepmother. "Yes, you are." He agreed softly. "Everyman should be so blessed."

Karen blushed, as she moved toward her husband and sleeping son. "I'll just take him up to bed," she said taking the boy from Robert. "Sarah, perhaps you should start another pot of tea, this storm is still raging, and your guests might like more."

Sarah watched her stepmother carry her little brother up the stairs, and she drew a long breath. She had made a bargain with the Goblin King and knew he would keep it. Toby would remain here in this house, with the loving parents while she… She had no idea what was going to happen to her. She looked over her shoulder at where her father and Jareth stood side by side watching Karen move up the stairs. So far her father had accepted the idea of the storm, the broken down van, and the brief meeting of Jareth and Sarah three years ago. She wondered how the King was going to get her father to accept his demand to take Sarah away.

Jareth looked away from the mother carrying the child, to the father whose face was a study of composure at the moment. "Mr. Williams, might I have a word with you in private?" he asked quietly. Robert's reverie ended, and something in his eyes told the Goblin that he was fearful of this moment. "Please," the Englishman asked softly.

"Of course," Robert kept his tone assured and assertive, just as he would in a courtroom. "I'm sure Sarah and her friends will forgive our absence, my den is just down the hall here." He picked up one of the candles. "Shall we?"

Sarah looked at Jareth, her eyes pleading with the King to be compassionate and considerate of her parent. Passing her, the Goblin King pressed his hand to her arm gently. She watched them exit before turning her attentions back to her guests. Ruth was sitting quietly, glaring at Sarah. "Would anyone like more tea?"

Ruth stood up, "I'd like an explanation." Her tone was hurtful, and her eyes were filled with anger. "How is it you managed to get your name picked? Did you and that… Limmie arranged this?"

"Oh Ruth, grow up!" Sarah snapped having had as much of the other teen as she could bear. "How would I do that? I didn't even put my name in that drawing!"

"I did," a chorus of voices chimed in.

Ruth glared at her boyfriend. "How…why?" she demanded to know.

Johnny stood up, "Two reasons really," he said with a cat on cream smile. "One because I knew Sarah would never even think to enter her own name… the second reason was spite… I really wanted to see her win over you, Ruthie!"

Hurt and indignant, Ruth's face lost its veneer of self-assurance. "Why?" she whined slightly.

"Because of all you take for granted…" Johnny's hurt came pouring out. "I've been going with you for nearly a year… and all you wanted was to stand on stage with some rock and roller… and get noticed…. Ruthie, do you have any idea of how degrading that was to me?" His hand went nervously into his hair. "You make me feel irrelevant!"

Ruth felt the eyes of everyone else, self-conscious she seemed to try to shrink into her-self. "Johnny…" she stammered. "I never meant for you to feel…" she looked for a word mentally. "Insignificant…" She didn't like this kind of attention. "Honest."

"Well that's what I feel…" he groaned hoarsely. "Do you care about me at all?"

"Of course I do," she defended her self, but her eyes went back to Sarah. "But she's always had everything! Don't you see?"

"Everything?" Sarah moved forward. "Ruth, how can you say that? My mother left us when I was ten…. I don't get to see her as often as I'd like, and when I do go for a visit I have to be content with what time she can steal away for me…"

Ruth gave her an unconvinced gaze. "You hang out with famous actors and actresses… you've had your picture in how many papers?"

"My picture;" Sarah laughed coarsely. "Ruth, get real, I'm an incidental… the pictures are of the actresses and actors my mother works with… not me."

Still harping on wounds that she felt was inflicted, Ruth barked. "You think you're too good to go out with any of the usual crowd…."

"Ruth, most of the guys who've asked me out did so because they thought they could either make inroads with my mother's crowd or thought they'd get lucky and could get in my pants." Merck turned to the piano, embarrassed by the admission and began to play. Odell leaned on a wall and tried to look like he wasn't following the conversation. Sarah didn't bother trying to apologize.

"Oh sure," Ruth snarled.

"You think I'm kidding? Ask Leeanne, she saw me after the last blind date you all set up for me…" Sarah lamented. "Well excuse me Ruth if I don't play the whore for every Tom Dick and Harry!"

Ruth turned to Leeanne, expecting her to refute Sarah's claim, but the other girl's face was sad and full of remorse. "Lee?" She changed her mind seeing the other's face. Slowly she turned back to Sarah. "You mean… he tired to…"

"Take advantage of me, yes," Sarah crossed her arms akimbo. "Ruth I do have morals and scruples, some of these guys think that just because my mother is an actress… that I'm loose and free… well I'm not." She shuddered at a memory. "If that's what you call attention, you're welcome to it."

"But…" Ruth was running out of excuses and complaints. "Everyone thinks you're Miss Perfect!"

"Oh get off it," Sarah laughed coldly. "No one thinks that… everyone remembers that I was a real pain in the ass three years ago… you want to know why I kept to myself? I'll tell you… it was because I was afraid to let anyone get close to me… my mother left me… my father married again and I felt pushed aside when Toby was born…. It took me forever to understand that I wasn't… that I was given a real gift… a family…."

Karen stood on the landing, listening to Sarah. She looked back toward the second floor, and remembered three short years ago and the confrontation on the staircase. Her mother's heart went out to the girl defending herself in the parlor.

--

Robert had taken a seat in the chair behind the desk, wanting to appear indomitable. "What is it you wished to discuss?"

Jareth understood the man's attempt to keep the upper hand. His years as a ruler had taught him a thing or two about keeping up appearances. "Sarah," Jareth said tenderly as he took a seat.

"Yes?" Robert felt fear clutch his heart.

"She's grown into a beautiful young woman," Jareth stated boldly.

"She's still a child," Robert countered carefully.

One brow rose, "Hardly." Jareth took a seat across from the father of his intended Queen. He was poised, assured and calm, knowing that he had the power to squash this man like a bug, but not wishing to demonstrate. "She was a beauty three years ago, and because of her age, I backed away… however she is now of legal age, and I won't back off again." His voice was calm and reasonable. "However, I would prefer to have your blessings while I court your daughter."

"Court?" Robert frowned. "Won't that put a crimp in your… lifestyle?"

"Not at all," Jareth stated firmly.

Placing his hands on his desk, and clasping them together, Robert studied the man before him. "Young man, you must see that what you're suggesting is impossible… you're a rock star, and on the road…."

"I plan to get off the road," countered Jareth. "And this musical venture was merely the marking of time… I have other interests and obligations to see to…as do my band members. We were… sowing oats," he suggested calmly.

The explanation didn't set well, "Don't you think you're a bit too old for my daughter?" Robert growled.

"I am older than Sarah," Jareth admitted freely. "But as to being too old, no…In fact I think I'm the perfect age for her." He leaned forward. "What's more I think Sarah thinks so as well." He tried to calm the fears he was seeing rise in the father. "Sir, I understand your qualms, rest assure I have no intentions of rushing the girl into anything. I should rather enjoy getting to know her."

"Sarah is a very… inexperienced young woman," Robert confided. "She could be easily overwhelmed."

Jareth rose to his feet, "I assure you, my intentions are honorable… I intent to marry your daughter."

"Does she know of your intentions?" Robert asked carefully.

"She does," Jareth admitted. "I told her earlier this evening that now that I've found her I'll never set her free…."

"And she was accepting of this…declaration;" the distraught father challenged.

Standing with all his Kingly dignity, Jareth addressed the man who would one day be his father in law. "Sarah understands that she and I were fated to one another; however she is a dutiful daughter and wishes to have your blessing… as do I." He softened his approach. "I have no intention of coming in here and whisking her away from you… I would very much like to eventually be accepted into your family… as a member in my own right. I love your daughter," Jareth said gently.

"You've only just met her," Robert countered.

"I've loved her since I first laid eyes on her three years ago…." Corrected the King easily; "I've had no relationships, causal or otherwise since I met Sarah." He tapped his fingers on the edge of the desk.

Feeling slightly intimidated by the man standing over him, Robert cleared his throat. "Sarah's too young to marry."

"Agreed," Jareth resumed his seat. "That is why I think a courtship and a decent duration of engagement would benefit us both."

Robert mulled again, "What about her education?"

Thoughtfully the young King answered. "As my wife, Sarah will have a great deal of responsibility… I think an education would behoove her, a proper education is always a plus for a woman." Jareth mused. "My estates and holdings are rather like a mini kingdom, and I will expect my wife to take an active interest in how things are run."

"Estates?" Robert's ears perked up.

"Yes, didn't I mention them?" Jareth said coyly. "Oh dear, I thought I had… you see Mr. Williams, I'm a very rich man… Your daughter will never have needs… she will live rather like a Queen." He smiled at his private joke.

"Still," Robert shook his head. "She's never been… involved…"

"I understand your hesitation," Jareth leaned forward, as if conversing with an equal. "I suggest that you agree to allow me to keep company with your daughter…. And let us ease into the rest… She's young, and we've no need to hurry her down the aisle."

Robert began to smile; "Keeping company, that's rather an old fashioned term, isn't it?"

"I'm an old fashioned man at heart, Mr. Williams," Jareth mused. "Don't believe everything you've seen in the press. I don't do wild parties," he lied easily, thinking of the wild times in the Kingdom with the goblins and Fae refugees. "I rather like the idea of Sarah's innocents. She's disarmingly charming, and will be a treasure."

"If I agree to this, I expect you to obey the ground rules I'll be lying down." Robert cautioned. "I'll not have Sarah rushed or pushed into …"

"Agreed," Jareth stood up and offered the man his hand. "I will happily abide by any reasonable rule you see fit to place upon our time together, until Sarah is ready to wed."

"I'm not going to let you sweet talk her into…"

"Never thought you would," Jareth assured the father. "Besides, I rather like the idea of a bride who can wear white."

Robert looked at the extended hand, accepted it and shook it firmly. "Well then, Mr. King…"

"Call me Jareth," he suggested.

"Jareth… unusual name that."

"Indeed," the Goblin King mused as he shook Robert's hand. "Seems my father and you went in for unusual names… I mean really… Tobias?"

"That was Karen…;" Snickered Robert in a consistory tone. "I would have preferred Robert Jr."

"Toby does suit him," Jareth mused; "Just as Sarah suits your daughter."

Robert nodded, "And on that happy note I suggest we rejoin the party in the living room, before they think the worst."

"OH I doubt anyone here could think the worst," Jareth mused following the other man out of the study.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15. The Calm**

Karen looked out the window, "Looks like the storm is finally passing on," she commented softly. "The power should be coming back on soon." Robert and Jareth coming from the study drew her attention. "Everything alright dear?"

"Everything is fine," Robert said calmly.

Sarah looked at Jareth as he entered the parlor behind her father. His smug expression was worth a thousand words, he had gotten his way. He strolled toward Sarah and extended his hand to her. Sarah remembered another time he'd walked toward her this way, and the touch of his hand. Only this time there was only the music being played on the piano by Merck. The magical music she'd danced to in the ballroom was absent, and she was glad that it was. Without hesitation she placed her hand trustingly into that of the Goblin King. They had struck a bargain and she was not going to Welch on it. Jareth closed his fingers possessively over hers, pulling her to his side before he slid his hand to her waist.

"Your farther has agreed to allow me to see you." Jareth stated quietly.

"Did he," Sarah mused looking into the eyes that still held enough hurt to be slightly cruel.

"Indeed," the Goblin King flexed the fingers at her waist. "He suggests we go slowly."

Ruthie watched the interactivity between them, and looked over at Johnny with a sulky expression. "If the storm has passed, we should be going."

Johnny walked past the sulking girl, offering his hand to the man who was holding Sarah. "It was an experience meeting you, Mr. King… perhaps we shall meet again."

Jareth accepted the offered hand, and shook it firmly. "A pleasure young man," the Goblin King slid his free hand about the waist of the pretty girl standing beside him. "I look forward to getting to know you."

Leeanne and Mike stood up, Ronnie stood as well. Perrin walked beside the girl whose beau had been the spy for the High King. He spoke to her softly, encouragingly. They moved into the foyer past the Williams', Sarah and Jareth migrated that way so Sarah could say good night to her guests. As they reached the large entry way, the lights flickered and came back on. Karen breathed a sigh of relief. "At last," she said as she moved up the stair. "Robert, are you coming up?" Robert waved good bye to the teens, and followed his wife

Sarah and Jareth stood on the porch waving good night to the teens, sirens sounding told them the law enforcement officers were on their way to the neighborhood. Sarah looked sadly at the girl getting into the back seat of Mike's car. "Will she remember anything?" She asked.

Perrin answered, "She'll remember bits and pieces, only what she truly needs," he assured the soon to be Goblin King. "No damages will she suffer."

Odell stepped off the porch, "Your majesties," he addressed the royal couple respectfully. "I'll go to the van and start the process of dealing with the authorities." He bowed slightly toward Sarah. "Congratulations, my Lady." Merck also bowed to Sarah before following Odell.

Rafe and Perrin stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting on Jareth. Perrin looked at Jareth, and quietly reminded him of the time that was fleeting. "We've only a short time left to us, Sire."

Jareth nodded before waving them off. Turning to Sarah he gazed at her with the same worried expression he'd worn in the Escher room. "How you turn my world," he murmured softly.

"I never meant to…" Sarah lamented.

Jareth, now dressed once more in the modern garments of the British rocker, moved toward the girl purposefully. One hand moved gracefully under her chin, tipping her face gently upward. "Your eyes can be so cruel," he reminded her in a sad lament; "Just as I can be so cruel."

Sarah felt her mouth open slightly in surprise. The next thing she felt was Jareth's lips on hers, sealing their deal. As he pulled back from the kiss, with his hand still under her chin, he once more claimed, "Everything I did, I did for you…."

"I know," she whispered solemnly. "I know."

"Sarah," Jareth crooned possessively. "Sometimes one must be cruel to be kind." His eyes were locked into hers. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"No," she pouted, "But I will learn."

His fingers were bent under her chin, as he stroked her jaw line with his thumb. "No regrets," he advised.

"No regrets," she promised as she yielded her fate to the King who had waited for her.

--

Author's note:

This is where this tale ends… What happens next is of course up to the fates.

Thank you for reading.


End file.
